The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

April 30, 1943
The Man Who Never Was, Part 2

Major Martin was placed in a steel canister filled with dry ice and sealed up. When the dry ice sublimated, it filled the canister with carbon dioxide and drove out any oxygen, thus preserving the body without refrigeration. Cholmondeley and Montagu delivered it to Holy Loch, Scotland, where it was taken on board the submarine HMS Seraph. Seraph’'​s commander, Lt. Bill Jewell, and crew had previous special operations experience. On April 19, she set sail and arrived at a point about a mile off the coast of Spain, near the town of Huelva, on April 30. The British knew that there was an Abwehr agent in Huelva who was friendly with the Spanish officials there. He was Adolf Clauss, the son of the German consul, and operated under the cover of an agriculture technician.

At 0430 on April 30, Seraph surfaced. Jewell had the canister brought up on deck, then sent all his crew below except the officers. The first lieutenant (second-in-command), Lt. David Scott, was on the bridge. He briefed them on the details of the secret operation which only Jewell and Scott knew until that time. They opened the canister, fitted Major Martin with a life jacket, and attached his briefcase with the papers. Jewell read Psalm 39, although the burial service was not specified in the orders; the body was then gently pushed into the sea where the tide would bring it ashore. Half a mile to the south, a rubber dinghy was thrown overboard to provide additional “evidence” of a crash. The canister was taken further out to sea and riddled with machine gun fire so that it would sink. Because of the air trapped in the insulation, this effort failed, and the canister was eventually rigged with plastic explosives to destroy it. Jewell continued on to Gibraltar. The body was found at around 0930 by a local fisherman, José Antonio Rey Maria, and was taken to Huelva by local military and law enforcement officials.

When the body was found, it was reported to Clauss in Huelva. Three days later, the British Naval Attaché in Spain reported the body's discovery, and the Committee was notified. The body was handed over to the British Vice-Consul, who arranged for a pathologist, Eduardo Del Torno, to perform a post-mortem examination. Del Torno reported that the man had fallen into the sea while still alive and had no bruises, death was due to drowning, and the body had been in the sea between 3 and 5 days. A more comprehensive examination was not made, in part through the encouragement of the local British representative and because the pathologist took him for a Roman Catholic. Major Martin was buried in the San Marco section of Nuestra Señora cemetery in Huelva, with full military honors on May 2.

Montagu had Major Martin included in the published list of British casualties which appeared in The Times on June 4, in case the Germans checked up there. By coincidence, the names of two other officers who had died when their plane was lost at sea were also published that day, giving credence to the story. To further the ruse, the Admiralty sent several messages to the naval attaché about the papers that Major Martin had been carrying. The attaché was urgently directed to locate the papers, and, if they were in Spanish hands, to recover them at all costs, but also to avoid alerting the Spanish to their importance. The briefcase and papers had been taken up by the Spanish Navy, which had turned over the documents to the Alto Estado Mayor, (Supreme General Staff). From there, they apparently disappeared.

As was hoped, Karl-Erich Kühlenthal, the most senior Abwehr agent in Spain, took a keen interest in finding the papers. He stirred up so much attention that Col. José Lopez Barron Cerruti, Spain’s most senior secret policeman and a keen fascist, took up the search for the briefcase. Word of the find reached Abwehr headquarters in Germany. Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the Abwehr, was asked by Kühlenthal to personally intervene and persuade the Spanish to surrender the documents. The documents were duly located and made available to the Germans. The Spanish removed the still-damp paper by tightly winding it around a probe into a cylindrical shape, and then pulling it out between the envelope flap, still closed by a wax seal, and the envelope body. The papers where taken to the German Embassy and given to Wilhelm Leissner, the Abwehr chief in Madrid, who was given one hour to make copies. The embassy immediately radioed the text to Berlin, with the paper copies following a few days later.

The documents were re-inserted into their original envelopes, reversing the process by which they were removed, and returned to the British attaché by the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Navy on May 13, with the assurance that everything was there. When the papers were examined after their return, the British analyzed the documents and confirmed they had been opened. Further confirmation from Ultra prompted a message to Churchill, then in the United States: “Mincemeat swallowed rod, line and sinker.”

The efforts at authenticity paid off. The Germans noted and accepted all the personal details. They noted the date on the ticket stubs, and deduced that Martin must have been flying from Britain to Gibraltar. Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of Propaganda and fluent in English, read The Times every day. He had doubts about the information, which he noted in his private diary, but did not express them openly. Hitler was convinced of the veracity of the bogus documents, which reinforced his own concerns for the region. He disagreed with Benito Mussolini, who believed Sicily would be the most likely invasion point, and insisted that any attack against Sicily would be a feint.

German defensive efforts were substantially redirected: reinforcements were sent to Greece, Sardinia and Corsica instead of Sicily. British commando activities had also been carried out in Greece. Gen. Erwin Rommel was sent to Greece to assume overall command. A group of minesweepers and minelayers was transferred from Sicily, and additional minefields laid off the Greek coast. Three panzer divisions were moved to Greece – one from France, and two from the Eastern Front. The latter was perhaps the most critical move – reducing German combat strength in the Kursk salient (influencing events on the Eastern Front in an unintended benefit). The Italian navy was also positioned around Greek waters.

On July 10, the Allies invaded Sicily in Operation Husky. The Germans remained convinced for 2 more weeks that the main attacks would be in Sardinia and Greece, and kept forces there until it was too late.

[Ennath]

May 1, 1995
Operation Flash

In December 1994, Croatia and the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) made an economic agreement to restore road and rail links, water and gas supplies and use of a part of the Adria oil pipeline. Even though a part of the agreement was never implemented, the pipeline and a 14-mile section of the Zagreb–Belgrade highway passing through RSK territory around Okucani were opened. The highway section became of strategic importance both to Croatia and the RSK in further negotiations. The section was closed by the RSK for 24 hours on April 24, increasing Croatian resolve to recapture the area through military action. On April 28, a Serb was stabbed by a Croatian refugee at a filling station on the highway in Croatian controlled territory.

In response, a group of Serbs, including a brother of the killed man, fired on Croatian vehicles on the highway which remained open despite a UN request to Croatia to close the route. Hrvoje Sarinic, an advisor to Croatian President Franjo Tuđman, confirmed that Croatia contemplated staging an incident which would provoke a military capture of the area, but he also denied that one was needed as incidents were known to occur on a regular basis.

The Croatian Army (HV) General Staff had developed a plan to recapture the RSK-held area of western Slavonia in December 1994. Troops were to converge on Okucani, advancing east from Novska and west from Nova Gradiska, isolating RSK forces remaining north of the line while they are pinned down by reserve infantry brigades and Home Guard regiments. A part of the main force would secure the area south of the main axis of the attack, reaching the Sava River in order to prevent any reinforcements sent by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) from reaching the area. The plan included Croatian air strikes on the only Sava River bridge in the area. In the second phase of the offensive, a mop-up operation was designed to eliminate any pockets of resistance left over.

Croatia deployed 7200 troops to conduct the attack, including elements of three guards brigades and an independent guards battalion supported by special forces of the Croatian Police and reserve and Home Guard troops. The 18th West Slavonian Corps of the RSK, defending the area, had about 4500 troops. An RSK commission set up to evaluate the battle claimed that some of the RSK units were not able to retrieve antitank weapons from UN depots until after the offensive began. The weapons were stored there pursuant to the March 1994 ceasefire agreement. Nonetheless, the UN did not resist the RSK troops removing the stored weapons.

On May 1, 1995, Operation Flash started with an artillery preparatory bombardment at 4:30 AM. Infantry and armor attacks converging from Novska, Nova Gradiska and Pakrac and an attack from Novska towards Jasenovac commenced at various times between 5:30 and 7:00. The artillery and air strikes caused panic in the RSK rear, but did not take out the Sava River bridge in Stara Gradiska. The field commander requested Mi-24’s to prevent RSK armor from intervening.

At 5:30, Croatian special police moved through a gap in the RSK defenses, between 98th Infantry Brigade facing Novska and Tactical Group 1 (TG1) defending Jasenovac, disrupting the integrity of RSK positions, and outflanking 98th Brigade on the Novska axis of the attack, where a battalion of 1st Guards advanced along a secondary road parallel to the highway, while a battalion each from the 2nd and 3rd Guards Brigades advanced east on the highway itself, crushing the RSK defense. The HV attack aimed at Jasenovac was a 2-pronged advance of 125th Home Guard Regiment supported by special police south and east from Brocice and Drenov Bok. TG1 offered no significant resistance, and the HV captured Jasenovac by 1:00 PM. RSK authorities in Okucani permitted the evacuation of civilians; however, they were quickly joined by retreating elements of 98th and 54th Brigades. TG1 retreated south across the Sava River. After capture of Jasenovac, 125th Home Guard Regiment and the special police advanced eastward along the Sava River.

On the Nova Gradiska–Okucani axis, RSK 54th Infantry Brigade held positions east of Okucani, facing 2 Guards battalions, an armored company and 121st Home Guard Regiment of the HV. Due to a breakdown in the chain of command, the HV attack was delayed, forcing the 81st Guards Battalion to face well prepared defenders in Dragalic. In response, the HV redirected the 4th Battalion, 5th Guards Brigade, 265th Reconnaissance Sabotage Company and the armored company to dislodge the defense. 54th Brigade put up strong resistance until 9 AM, when its commander ordered a retreat. Still, the HV force encircled Okucani by 11 PM, before suspending its advance for the night. This effectively isolated RSK 51st Infantry Brigade and the RSK Special police battalion, as well as elements of 54th and 98th Brigades north of Okucani. Furthermore, the RSK force near Pakrac could not communicate with Corps HQ because their communication system failed. In the Pakrac area, the HV deployed 105th Infantry Brigade and 52nd Home Guard Regiment. It was estimated that the RSK forces there were well entrenched and that the HV chose to envelop and pin them down rather than engage in any large-scale combat.

The HV resumed its advance in the early morning of May 2. The retreating elements of 98th and 54th Infantry Brigades mixed with civilians evacuating south towards the Republika Srpska clashed with the 265th Reconnaissance Sabotage Company near Novi Varos, but managed to continue south. RSK 18th Corps moved its headquarters from Stara Gradiska across the Sava to Gradiska in the Republika Srpska against the orders of the RSK General Staff. The HV captured Okucani at 1 PM as the HV pincers advancing from Novska and Nova Gradiska met. RSK 18th Corps requests for close air support were denied by the political leadership of the Republika Srpska as well as the General Staff. They thought that the HV might attack other RSK-held areas and because of the NATO no-fly zone over Bosnia, which would have to be overflown to assist 18th Corps. The RSK deployed only 2 helicopters to support the corps, but they could not be directed against the HV because of the communication failure.

The RSK leadership decided to retaliate against Croatia by ordering the artillery bombardment of Croatian urban centers. Eleven rockets carrying cluster munitions were fired at Zagreb and its airport; the attack was repeated on the 3rd. Six civilians were killed and 205 injured in the two attacks. The US Ambassador to Croatia called the attack a declaration of an all-out war.

On May 3, Croatia and the RSK reached an agreement to end hostilities by 4 PM. Consequently, the RSK General Staff instructed 18th Corps to cease fire at 3:00. Meanwhile, the 7000 RSK troops and civilians encircled south of Pakrac were ordered by RSK command to surrender to the Argentinean battalion of the UN force, as agreed by the Croatian commander. Hundreds of RSK troops refused to surrender, remaining in the Psunj forests, so mopping-up operations began on May 4. The HV used artillery to flush approximately 1500 RSK troops towards its positions and captured them by the end of the day. Nonetheless, the HV and the Croatian special police continued to sweep the area for any remaining RSK military personnel. One such group of about 50 soldiers of 98th Brigade swam across the Sava River into the Republika Srpska on May 7. The mop-up operations were completed by May 20, when the last remaining RSK troops surrendered to the Croatian police on Psunj.

Operation Flash was a strategic victory for Croatia. It captured 215 square miles formerly held by the RSK, placed the entire western Slavonia region under Croatian control and secured the use of strategically important road and rail links between the capital and the east of the country. Croatian military losses were 42 killed and 162 wounded. Croatia estimated RSK losses at 188 dead and 1000 wounded. At least 83 civilians were killed. Three Jordanian soldiers serving with the UN were wounded by HV fire. RSK prisoners were transferred to detention facilities for investigation of any involvement in war crimes. Some of the detainees were beaten or otherwise abused on the first evening of their detention, but treatment of the prisoners improved.

Some 9000 Serbs fled the area during or immediately after the offensive; 2000 more were evacuated to Serb-held areas in Bosnia. By the end of June, no more than 1500 Serbs were still living in the area.

[Ennath]

May 2, 1982
Sinking of the Belgrano

The light cruiser USS Phoenix, of the Brooklyn class, was commissioned in October 1938. She survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor undamaged, and went on to earn 9 battle stars for World War II service. She was decommissioned from the US Navy in July 1946 and sold to Argentina in October 1951. She was renamed 17 de Octubre after the “People's Loyalty Day”, an important milestone for the political party of then-president Juan Peron. She was one of the main units that joined the 1955 coup in which Peron was overthrown (see posting), and the ship was renamed General Belgrano after Manuel Belgrano, who had fought for Argentinean independence from 1811 to 1819. General Belgrano was outfitted with the Sea Cat anti-aircraft missile system between 1967 and 1968.

After the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands, Britain declared a Maritime Exclusion Zone of 200 nautical miles around the Falklands, within which any Argentinean warship or naval auxiliary might be attacked by British submarines. On April 23, the British Government clarified in a message that was passed via the Swiss Embassy in Buenos Aires that any Argentinean ship or aircraft that was considered to pose a threat to British forces would be attacked. On April 30, this was upgraded to a Total Exclusion Zone within which any sea vessel or aircraft from any country might be fired upon without further warning. The zone was stated to be “...without prejudice to the right of the United Kingdom to take whatever additional measures may be needed in exercise of its right of self-defense, under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.” The concept of a Total Exclusion Zone was a novelty in maritime law; the Law of the Sea Convention had no provision for such an instrument. The purpose of it seems to have been to reduce the amount of time needed to ascertain whether a vessel in the zone was hostile or not. The zone was widely respected by the shipping of neutral nations, possibly more out of prudence than respect for the UK’s legal position.

The Argentinean military junta began to reinforce the islands in late April when it was realized that a British Task Force was heading south. As part of these movements, the Argentinean Navy was ordered to take positions around the islands. Two Task Groups, designated TG 79.1 which included the aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo plus two guided missile destroyers, and TG 79.2 which included three Exocet-armed frigates; both sailed north. General Belgrano had left Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego on April 26. Two destroyers, Piedra Buena and Bouchard (ex-Sumner class vessels) were detached from TG 79.2 and together with the tanker Puerto Rosales joined General Belgrano to form TG 79.3.

By April 29, the ships were patrolling the Burdwood Bank, south of the islands. On April 30, General Belgrano was detected by the British nuclear-powered submarine Conqueror. The submarine approached over the following day. On May 1, Adm. Juan Lombardo ordered all Argentinean naval units to seek out the British task force around the Falklands and launch a “massive attack” the following day. General Belgrano, which was outside and southwest of the exclusion zone, was ordered southeast.

Lombardo’s signal was intercepted by British Intelligence. As a result, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her War Cabinet, meeting at Chequers the following day, agreed to a request from Adm. Sir Terence Lewin, Chief of the Defense Staff, to alter the rules of engagement and allow an attack on General Belgrano outside the exclusion zone. Although the task group was outside the Total Exclusion Zone, the British decided that it was a threat. After consultation at Cabinet level, Thatcher agreed that Cmdr. Chris Wreford-Brown, commanding HMS Conqueror, should attack the Belgrano.

At 1557 (Falkland Islands Time) on May 2, Conqueror fired three 21” Mk 8 mod 4 torpedoes (conventional non-guided). While Conqueror was also equipped with the newer Mk 24 Tigerfish homing torpedo, there were doubts about its reliability. Two of the three torpedoes hit General Belgrano. One of the torpedoes struck about 40 feet aft of the bow, outside the area protected by either the ship’s side armor or the internal anti-torpedo bulge. This blew off the bow, but the internal torpedo bulkheads held and the forward powder magazine did not detonate. It is believed that none of the ship's company were in that part of the ship at the time. The second torpedo struck about three-quarters of the way along the ship, just outside the rear limit of the side armor plating. The torpedo punched through the side before exploding in the aft machine room. The explosion tore upward through two messes and a relaxation area before finally ripping a 65-foot-long hole in the main deck. Later reports put the number of deaths in the area around the explosion at 275. The ship rapidly filled with smoke. The explosion also damaged electrical power, preventing her from putting out a radio distress call. Though the forward bulkheads held, water was rushing in through the hole created by the second torpedo and could not be pumped out because of the electrical failure. In addition, although the ship should have been at action stations, she was sailing with the water-tight doors open.

The ship began to list to port and to sink towards the bow. Twenty minutes after the attack, at 1624, Captain Bonzo ordered the crew to abandon ship. Inflatable life rafts were deployed, and the evacuation began without panic.

The 2 escort ships were unaware of what was happening to General Belgrano, as they were out of touch with her in the gloom and had not seen the distress rockets or lamp signals. Adding to the confusion, the crew of Bouchard felt an impact that was possibly the third torpedo exploding at the end of its run (an examination of the ship later showed an impact mark consistent with a torpedo). The ships continued on their course westward and began dropping depth charges. By the time the ships realized that something had happened to General Belgrano, it was already dark and the weather had worsened, scattering the life rafts. Argentinean and Chilean ships rescued 772 men in all from May 3 to 5. In total, 323 were killed in the attack.

Following the loss, the Argentinean fleet returned to its bases and played no major role in the rest of the conflict. British submarines continued to operate in the areas between Argentina and the Falklands, gathering intelligence, providing early warning of air raids and posing a considerable threat in being. A further effect was that the Argentinean Navy’s carrier-borne aircraft had to operate from land bases at the limit of their range, rather than from an aircraft carrier at sea. The minimal role of the Navy in the rest of the campaign led to a considerable loss of credibility and influence within the Junta.

The area where General Belgrano sank is classified as a War Grave by Argentina. In August 1994, an official Argentinean Defense Ministry report was released which described the sinking of the Belgrano as “a legal act of war”, explaining that acts of war “can also take place in those areas over which no state can claim sovereignty, in international waters”. Argentinean veterans were said to be dismayed at the conclusion and the President of the Federation of Argentine War Veterans Luis Ibanez hoped to produce more witnesses to show that the sinking was a war crime.

In 2000, lawyers representing the families of the sailors killed onboard General Belgrano attempted to sue the British Government in the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that the attack took place outside the exclusion zone. It was an attempt to pressure the Argentinean government to lodge an action against the UK in the International Court of Justice, but was ruled inadmissible by the Court of Human Rights on the grounds that it had been submitted too late. In 2012 the then President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, referred to the sinking as a war crime. However, the Argentinean Navy has historically held the view that the sinking was a legitimate act of war.

[rupertramjet]

those of us in the Task Force, who would have had to die under the missiles she was carrying have a simple view. 'Thanks Matelots we owe you!'

[Ennath]

May 3, 1937
The May Events

Having defeated the military rebellion in Barcelona in July 1936, the workers’ militias controlled the city, and with it all of Catalonia. Most belonged to the anarchist National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and/or the Iberian Anarchist Federation (CNT-FAI). The Generalitat (Catalonian government) existed in name only, propped up by the workers’ committees. At that time the Confederation had approximately two million members, the socialist UGT about half as many and the Communist Party a few thousand; nevertheless these groups were given equal representation, as allies against the rebellion.

The central government was powerless to oppose the revolution that was taking place in Catalonia. Within 2 weeks the militia columns had conquered half of Aragon where they established anarchist communism, but lacked the supplies to proceed any further. The Barcelona arms industries were collectivized, but loans to these industries were denied by the Madrid Government, under the influence of the Communists. A split was developing in the Republican government in Barcelona. On the one hand were the Communist Parties of Spain and Catalonia (PCE and PSUC), following the Soviet line. At the other extreme, in radical opposition to Stalin, the dissident Marxist POUM; who believed, like the anarchists, that war and social revolution were inseparable. This was the chief motivation for those fighting in the militias, most of whom were trade unionists and/or anarchists before the war.

During the winter, the PCE took the decision to liquidate the POUM during a conference with Comintern officials and Soviet agents in Valencia. POUM leaders were accused of being Nazi agents, part of a plot devised by Trotsky, who was alleged to be conspiring with the fascists to overthrow Stalin - supported by the “evidence” of the show trials that had taken place in Moscow the previous year. The POUM leaders were becoming increasingly wary as spring approached. Tension in the streets of Barcelona was becoming evident, with the authorities, backed by Soviet advisors, arresting anarchists.

Josep Tarradellas, President of the Generalitat, wishing to restore the power of the official government, banned members of the police from political affiliation on March 26 and demanded that all political organizations turn in their weapons. This lead to anarchist withdrawal from the government.

On April 25 a force of Carabineros under the Pro-Stalin Finance Minister, Juan Negrín, took over the customs house at Puigcerda on the French border, killing the anarchist mayor, Antonio Martin. After this, violence flared along the entire border; the CNT, determined to maintain antifascist unity, reacted with restraint, confining themselves to self-defense. In Barcelona, fear grew of an open break between the CNT and POUM on one side and the government and Communists on the other. Each side began to cache weapons and fortify buildings. May Day, which was traditionally a day of leftist celebration, was spent in silence, as the UGT and CNT agreed to suspend the parades, which inevitably would have caused riots.

The event that sparked armed conflict was the assault by Civil Guards on the telephone exchange, which had been a workers’ collective since its recapture from the army in July. Their orders were signed by the Minister of Internal Security Artemi Aiguader, who later claimed he knew nothing about it. They only took the ground floor. Control of the telephone exchange was of vital importance since it permitted monitoring of government communications with the option of cutting them off.

On May 3, 200 police officers commanded by the Minister of Public Order of Catalonia, Eusebio Rodriguez Salas, went to the exchange with the intention of taking control of the building. The anarchists saw it as a provocation and opened fire from the second floor. Salas phoned in for help, with a company of the National Republican Guard arriving quickly. An envoy of the government persuaded the CNT workers to cease fire and surrender their weapons.

In the administrative center, the PSUC and the anarchists both erected barricades, facing each other. The POUM, the anarchist Friends of Durruti Group, the Leninists and the Libertarian Youth took positions, and after a few hours, all political parties had their own barricades. Battles began in different parts of the city. In Barcelona's suburbs, the defense committees retained full control; in those districts, police sided with the rebels and voluntarily handed over their weapons. Several hundred barricades were built and police units occupied roofs and church towers. By the evening, Barcelona was again at war.

The PSUC and the government controlled the urban sectors east of the Ramblas. “Workers’ committees” dominated the western sectors and all the suburbs. In the city center, where the headquarters of trade unions and political parties were relatively close, gunfire began to be heard and all the cars on the street were machine gunned. In the phone exchange a truce was agreed and communications were not interrupted. Early in the evening, the leaders of the POUM proposed to the regional committee the formation of an alliance against counter-revolutionaries. The anarchist leaders refused immediately.

On May 4, police occupied the Palace of Justice and seized a few CNT headquarters as gunfire continued throughout the city. CNT leaders went on the radio to appeal to their followers to lay down their arms and return to their jobs. None of them wanted a confrontation with the Communists, and President Largo Caballero was himself engaged in a bitter power struggle with the PCE. and the right-wing of his own party.

At 9.30 AM on May 5, assault guards attacked the headquarters of the Medical Union at Santa Ana Square in the center of the city. At the same time they attacked, with greater fury the headquarters of the Libertarian Youth. Both places phoned the Regional Committee for help. Three armored cars arrived in the afternoon at Union HQ. An armistice was agreed again, but the fighting continued, the regional committee asked several times who was controlling the police, because they were not taking orders from the government.

At 8:20 AM on May 7, a column of Assault Guards reached Barcelona from the fighting fronts, occupying points throughout the city. The CNT called for an end to resistance, but anarchists continued to be arrested and killed by the Assaltos. The unrest in Barcelona had finally finished. About 700 people had been killed and 1500 wounded. The May Events had secondary actions in many towns, mainly in the provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona. The fight was strong here too, but it ended with the defeat of the anarchists.

As a result of the May Events, a gap opened between the anarchist ministers, who still believed in “anti-fascist unity” and the younger rank-and-file.

The Generalitat of Catalonia was restored in its old functions, with representatives from the CNT and UGT. Some responsible for the killings of anarchists were tried later, but only in Tarragona, and were not sentenced to death but only to imprisonment.

The Generalitat, the Communists and the central government were determined to discipline the anarchists, by force if necessary. The CNT-FAI was strictly circumscribed. The POUM was outlawed on June 16 and its main leaders were arrested and Andres Nin murdered. The POUM disappeared as a political force and anarchist participation in the war declined dramatically. The four anarchist ministers in Largo Caballero’s Republican government were soon gone and the Communists now held an unchallenged dominance in the Republic.

[Ennath]

406 BC
Battle of Arginusae

In 406 BC, Callicratidas was appointed as the navarch of the Spartan fleet, replacing Lysander. Callicratidas was a traditionalist Spartan, distrustful of Persian influence and reluctant to ask for support from the Persian prince Cyrus, who had been a strong supporter of Lysander. Thus, Callicratidas was forced to assemble his fleet and funding by seeking contributions from Sparta's allies among the Greek cities of the region. In this fashion, he assembled a fleet of some 140 triremes. Conon, meanwhile, who was in command of the Athenian fleet at Samos, was compelled by problems with the morale of his sailors to man only 70 of the more than 100 triremes he had in his possession.

Callicratidas, once he had assembled his fleet, captured Delphinium in the territory of Chios and then sailed against Methymna, on Lesbos, which he besieged and stormed. From Methymna, Callicratidas could potentially move to capture the rest of Lesbos, which would clear the way for him to move his fleet to the Hellespont, where he would be athwart the all-important Athenian grain supply line; to defend Lesbos, Conon was forced to move his numerically inferior fleet from Samos to the Hekatonnesi islands near Methymna. When Callicratidas attacked him, however, with a fleet that had swelled to 170 ships, Conon was forced to flee to Mytilene, where he was blockaded after losing 30 ships in a clash at the mouth of the harbor. Besieged by land and sea, Conon was powerless to act against the vastly superior forces that surrounded him, and was only barely able to slip a messenger ship out to Athens to carry the news of his plight.

When this news reached Athens, the assembly wasted no time in approving extreme measures to scrape up a relief force. The golden statues of Nike were melted down to fund construction of the ships, and slaves and metics (resident foreigners) were enlisted to crew the fleet. To ensure a sufficiently large and loyal group of crewmen, the Athenians even took the radical step of extending citizenship to thousands of slaves who rowed with the fleet. Over a hundred ships were prepared and manned through these measures, and contributions from allied ships raised the fleet’s size to 150 triremes after it reached Samos. Just over 100 were Athenian, the rest allied. In a highly unorthodox arrangement, the fleet was commanded collaboratively by eight generals - Aristocrates, Aristogenes, Diomedon, Erasinides, Lysias, Pericles (son of the famous statesman), Protomachus, and Thrasyllus.

The fleet came together at Samos, and sailed up the coast towards Lesbos, pausing for the night at the Arginusae Islands, east of Lesbos and close to the mainland. Callicratidas decided to intercept the Athenian fleet, a sign of the greatly increased confidence of the Peloponnesian fleet. He left 50 ships at Mytilene, and took 130 with him. He spotted the Athenians’ signal fires by evening and planned a night attack, but was prevented by a thunderstorm, and so was forced to delay his attack until morning.

At dawn the next day, Callicratidas led his fleet out to meet the Athenians. For the first time in the war, the Spartan crews and commanders were more experienced than their Athenian opposites, as the Athenians’ best crews had been at sea with Conon. To counter the Spartans’ superior skill and maneuverability, the Athenian commanders implemented several new and innovative tactics. First, the Athenian fleet was divided into eight autonomous divisions, each commanded by one of the generals; second, they arranged their fleet in a double line instead of the traditional single line in order to prevent the Spartans from using the maneuver known as the diekplous, in which a trireme raced into a gap between two enemy ships and then wheeled to strike one of them in the side; if the Spartans attempted this against a double line, a ship from the second line could move up to attack the Spartan ship. The Athenian left wing pointed out to open sea, the right towards the shore and the Arginusae islands were in the center of the line.

As the Athenians advanced, they extended their left flank out to sea, outflanking the Spartans. The superior Athenian numbers, combined with the new tactics, created a dangerous situation for the Spartans, and Callicratidas’ helmsman advised him to retire without a fight, but the navarch insisted on pushing on. Dividing his force in two to meet the threat of encirclement, Callicratidas led his fleet into battle. Heated fighting ensued for some time, but eventually Callicratidas, leading the Spartan right, was killed when his ship rammed an opposing ship. According to Xenophon he fell overboard and was drowned. In Diodorus he was killed fighting onboard his ship, after becoming entangled with Pericles’ ships. Our sources also disagree on which wing of the Peloponnesian fleet was defeated first - the right wing goes first in Diodorus and the left wing in Xenophon. In both sources most of the Peloponnesians fled south to Chios. All told, the Spartans lost some 70-75 ships, and the Athenians 20-25, along with their crews. This loss of crew would lead to the most controversial aspect of the battle.

The Athenian commanders apparently decided to split their fleet, sending some ships to lift the siege of Mytilene and some to rescue their comrades from the sunken ships, but a storm blew up, and the fleet was forced to return to shore without achieving either objective; most of the men from the lost ships drowned. This gave Eteonicus, the Peloponnesian commander at Mytilene, time to evacuate his army and fleet. Conon was able to emerge from the blockaded city, and joined up with the main Athenian fleet.

The news of the victory itself was met with jubilation at Athens, and the grateful Athenian public voted to bestow citizenship on the slaves and metics who had fought in the battle. Their joy was tempered, however, by the news of the heavy losses. A fury erupted at the failure to rescue the men from the sunken ships. The generals were blamed and dismissed. Conon, Adeimantus and Philocles were appointed to replace them. Of the eight generals, Protomachus and Aristogenes decided not to return to Athens. The others returned to the city, where they were put on trial and after a somewhat lengthy process condemned and executed.

The Athenian people soon regretted their decision, but it was too late. The execution of six victorious generals had a double effect - it removed most of the ablest and most experienced commanders, and it discouraged the survivors from taking command in the following year. This lack of experience may have played a part in the crushing Athenian defeat at Aegospotami (405 BC) that effectively ended the war.

[Ennath]

May 4, 1799
Fall of Seringapatam

Tipu Sultan of Mysore, the major native kingdom of southern India, or Tippoo Sahib as the British called him, continued a tradition of opposing the East India Company in Mysore. Public opinion in England considered him a vicious tyrant, while modern Indian nationalists have hailed him as a freedom fighter, but both views are the products of wishful thinking. Tipu was vigorous, forceful, brave, warlike and cruel; a devout Muslim ruling a mainly Hindu population. He had inherited the throne from his father Haidar Ali, who had driven out the previous Hindu dynasty.

Tipu remarked that it was better to live for 2 days like a tiger than drag out an existence like a sheep for 200. He had a special reverence for tigers. He kept 6 in his fortress-city of Seringapatam (now Sriringapatna), 200 miles west of Madras, where his throne was shaped and striped like a tiger. His elite troops wore tiger badges, the hilt of his sword was in the form of a snarling tiger, and his favorite toy was a mechanical tiger straddling a British officer while the victim squealed in terror (it is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum). Thus he acquired the nickname of the Tiger of Mysore.

Tipu was determined to build a rich and powerful state and he was feared with reason by his subjects and by other Indian princes, who joined forces with the British against him. He tried to build up an alliance to drive the British out of India and intrigued with the French in Mauritius. In dealings with them Tipu improbably donned a cap of liberty and expressed his sympathy with French Revolutionary ideals.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s landing in Egypt in 1798 was believed by the British to threaten their possessions in India, and Mysore was a key to that next step, as Tipu wrote to Bonaparte, seeking alliance and receiving the reply, “You have already been informed of my arrival on the borders of the Red Sea, with an innumerable and invincible army, full of the desire of releasing and relieving you from the iron yoke of England.” Additionally, General Malarctic, French Governor of Mauritius, issued the Malarctic Proclamation seeking volunteers to assist Tipu.

Richard Wellesley, Lord Mornington, arriving in Calcutta as British Governor-General in 1798, decided to settle accounts with the Mysoris. An army of Company troops was assembled in Madras under General Sir George Harris with a contingent from the Nizam of Hyderabad, and several British units, including the 33rd Regiment of Foot under Mornington’s younger brother, Col. Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington). In February 1799 the order came to invade, and the motley array toiled across the border in 3 columns, accompanied by elephants and camels, thousands of baggage bullocks and flocks of sheep and goats to provide meat for the officers, as well as hordes of camp followers and a traveling market selling food and drink for the soldiery. Officers took along cooks, grooms, laundrymen and cleaning wallahs, and senior officers like Wellesley, who brought his silver-plated tableware with him, had thirty or more servants in their train. Moving ponderously in the burning heat, the army covered an area of 18 square miles and on a good day managed to advance 10 miles.

On March 8, James Stuart, with a force of 6500 men of the Bombay Army encamped at Seedaseer, Here he faced an attack by Tipu with 12,000 men, hoping to destroy this contingent while other troops delayed the Madras Army. Tipu’s attack was beaten off after a hard fight with the loss of 150 men; the British lost 135.

On March 27, Harris’ troops arrived at Mallavelly and observed Tipu drawing up his forces on a height a few miles off. Charging down into the British pickets, the Mysoris brought on a general engagement, in which the 33rd on the left of the line distinguished itself. A force of 2000 moved toward the regiment, which stood and coolly reserved fire until a distance of about 60 yards, then followed up its volley with a bayonet charge, routing the enemy. Meanwhile, on the right, the 12th Foot came under heavy attack by the Mysori cavalry, with infantry poised to advance behind them. Again the British foot waited to fire, finally loosing their volley at 30 yards, followed by rapid reloading and firing at the shattered enemy horse. Artillery completed the repulse. The British cavalry then completed the victory with a rapid charge and the Mysoris retreated. The British lost 68 men, while the Mysoris lost about 1500.

Seringapatam was besieged by the British forces on April 5, 1799. The River Cauvery, which flowed around the city, was at its lowest level of the year and could be forded by infantry - if an assault commenced before the monsoon. The city was well-supplied with artillery and defended by 30,000 men. Harris’ now reunited forces comprised 50,000 troops. Hostilities began immediately in skirmishes around the city. Soldiers captured by the sultan’s men were taken into the fortress and killed. Nails were driven into their heads or they were strangled by Tipu’s jettis, professional executioners. When letters were exchanged with Tipu, it seemed that he was playing for time. He requested discussions and also stated that he was preoccupied with hunting expeditions.

The defenders managed to prevent the establishment of a breaching battery on the north side of the Cauvery on April 22. However, by May 1, working at night, the British had completed their southern batteries and brought them up to the wall. At sunrise on May 2, the batteries of the Nizam of Hyderabad succeeded in opening a practical breach in the outer wall. In addition, the mines that were laid under the breach were hit by artillery and blew up prematurely.

When the morning of May 4 came, Tipu was told that the omens were not propitious. He tried to ward off misfortune by presenting the Hindu priests and Brahmins with a purse of gold, an elephant, a black bullock and two buffalo, a black nanny goat and a black coat and hat, but in vain.

The assault was led by Maj. Gen. David Baird, an implacable enemy of Tipu Sultan: 20 years earlier, he had been held captive for 44 months. The storming was to be led by the 73rd and 74th Foot, carrying bamboo ladders. At 11:00 AM, the British troops were briefed and whiskey and a biscuit issued to the European soldiers.

The assault began at 1:00 PM, the hottest part of the day when the defenders would be taking refreshment. The forlorn-hopes, numbering 76 men, led the charge. The columns quickly formed, were ordered to fix bayonets, and began to move forward. The storming party dashed across the Cauvery in water four feet deep, with covering fire from British batteries, and within 16 minutes had scaled the ramparts and swept aside the defenders. The British follow-up columns turned right and left, sweeping along the inside of the walls until they met on the far side of the city.

Tipu himself fought bravely, dressed in his finest, loading and firing muskets handed him by his servants as if at a sporting shoot. When he was wounded, his staff tried to hurry him away in a palanquin, but he was killed for his jewelry by an unidentified British soldier. As night was falling a British party found the sultan’s body under a heap of corpses. He was given honorable burial in his family mausoleum in the city.

Much of the remaining Mysori territory was annexed by the British, the Nizam and the Marathas. The remaining core, around Mysore and Seringapatam, was restored to the Indian prince belonging to the Hindu Wodeyar dynasty, whose forefathers had been the rulers before Haidar Ali drove them out. The Wodeyars ruled the remnant state of Mysore until 1947, when it joined the Union of India.

The news of Tipu’s defeat and death caused excitement in England and his treasure-hoard provided ample prize money for the British senior officers. Harris was given a peerage and Mornington was made Marquess Wellesley. Arthur Wellesley was put in charge in Mysore and moved into Tipu’s palace. The tigers were shot.

[Ennath]

May 5, 1864
Battle of the Wilderness

In March 1864, President Abraham Lincoln promoted Ulysses Grant to lieutenant general and gave him command of all Union armies. Rather than command from Washington, however, Grant headquartered himself with the Army of the Potomac and instructed its commander, George Meade: “Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also.” This was new for the Union army, which had previously identified its goal not as the Confederate army but the Confederate capital, Richmond. Fearing he wouldn't be reelected in the fall without a significant military victory, Lincoln had instructed Grant to seek out and destroy Lee.

Grant left the Army of the Potomac’s organization and command largely as he found it. He did appoint Philip Sheridan to lead the cavalry corps, and assigned James H. Wilson, a topographical engineer and former member of Grant’s staff, to command a 3500-man cavalry division. Grant also instructed Burnside’s IX Corps, which had been fighting in the West, to rejoin the Army of the Potomac, boosting Union strength to 118,000, compared with Lee's 65,000.

For the coming campaign, Grant planned to attack Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia from 3 directions. First, Meade was to cross the Rapidan River east of the Confederate position at Orange Court House, before swinging west to engage the enemy. To the south, Benjamin Butler was to advance up the Peninsula from Ft. Monroe and threaten Richmond, while to the west Franz Sigel laid waste to the resources of the Shenandoah Valley. Badly outnumbered, Lee was forced to assume a defensive position. Unsure of Grant’s intentions, he had placed Richard Ewell’s II Corps and A.P. Hill’s III Corps in earthworks along the Rapidan. James Longstreet’s I Corps was positioned to the rear at Gordonsville from which it could reinforce the Rapidan line or shift south to cover Richmond.

Grant's army began crossing the Rapidan before dawn on Wednesday, May 4, 1864. Divided into two wings, the Federal advance saw Winfield Hancock’s II Corps cross at Ely’s Ford before reaching camps near Chancellorsville around noon. To the west, Gouverneur Warren’s V Corps crossed at Germanna Ford, followed by John Sedgwick’s VI Corps. Marching 5 miles south, Warren’s men reached Wilderness Tavern at the intersection of the Orange Turnpike and Germanna Plank Road before halting. While Sedgwick’s men occupied the road back to the ford, Grant and Meade established their headquarters near the tavern. Not believing that Lee could reach the area until late on May 5, Grant intended to use the next day to advance west, consolidate his forces, and bring up Burnside’s IX Corps. As Union troops rested, they were forced to spend the night in the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, a vast area of thick, second-growth forest that negated the Union advantage in manpower and artillery. Their situation was further imperiled by a lack of cavalry patrols on the roads leading towards Lee.

Alerted to the Union movements, Lee quickly ordered Ewell and Hill to begin moving east to meet the threat. Orders were also issued for Longstreet to rejoin the army. As a result, Ewell's men camped that night at Robertson's Tavern on the Orange Turnpike, only 3 miles from Warren’s unsuspecting corps. Moving along the Orange Plank road, Hill made similar progress. It was Lee's hope that he could pin Grant in place with Ewell and Hill to allow Longstreet to strike at the Union left flank. A daring scheme, it required him to hold Grant's army with fewer than 40,000 men to buy time for Longstreet to arrive. As morning dawned on May 5, Grant’s men had no idea that the Army of Northern Virginia was waiting to pounce.

Charles Griffin’s division of Warren’s corps was waiting for their turn to march along the Orange Turnpike when Ewell’s Confederates swarmed out of the woods near a clearing called Saunders Field. With his cavalry already engaged, Grant ordered Warren to attack immediately. This was new for the Army of the Potomac, which was accustomed to ponderously and methodically arranging itself before launching an attack. Thus, in spite of the general-in-chief’s orders, several critical hours passed before the infantry made their assault. Studying the field, Warren saw that Ewell’s line extended beyond his own and that any attack would see his men enfiladed. As a result, he asked Meade to postpone an attack until Sedgwick came up on his flank. This was refused and the assault moved forward.

Warren's men finally attacked about 1:00. Griffin did well at Saunders Field, but could not exploit his success as the corps’ right was shattered by Confederate flanking fire. Griffin stormed back to HQ and cursed the commanders for lack of support; Grant was poised to arrest him, but Meade calmed the situation, explaining that it was just Griffin’s way of talking. For the moment, Meade's excuse settled the situation, but Grant, unused to delay in the execution of his orders, let alone insubordination, began to harbor doubts about the Army of the Potomac’s command. Bitter fighting continued to rage in Saunders Field as Wadsworth attacked through the thick forest south of the field. In confused fighting, they fared little better. By 3:00, when Sedgwick arrived to the north, the fighting had quieted. The arrival of VI Corps renewed the battle as Sedgwick's men unsuccessfully attempted to overrun Ewell's lines in the woods above the field.

To the south, Meade had been alerted to Hill’s approach and directed three brigades under George Getty to cover the intersection of the Brock Road and Orange Plank Road. Reaching the crossroads, Getty was able to fend off Hill. As Hill prepared to assault Getty in earnest, Lee established his headquarters a mile to the rear at the Widow Tapp Farm. Around 4:00, Getty was ordered to attack Hill. Aided by Hancock, whose men were just arriving, Union forces increased pressure on Hill forcing Lee to commit his reserves to the fight. Brutal fighting raged in the thickets until nightfall. By day's end, A. P. Hill's men were just barely holding their ground. Longstreet, meanwhile, was to the south, along the Catharpin Road. Lee ordered him to march to Hill’s rescue and counterattack. Expecting reinforcements to arrive in the morning, Hill told his men to rest rather than dig or straighten their lines.

With Hill's corps on the point of collapse, Grant sought to focus Union efforts for the next day on the Orange Plank Road. To do so, Hancock and Getty would renew their attack while Wadsworth shifted south to strike Hill’s left. IX corps was ordered to enter the gap between the turnpike and plank road to threaten the enemy rear. Lacking additional reserves, Lee hoped to have Longstreet in place to support Hill by dawn. As the sun began to rise, his I Corps was not in sight.

Around 5:00 AM, the Union assault began. Punching up the Orange Plank Road, Union forces overwhelmed Hill’s men driving them back to the Widow Tapp Farm. As the Confederate resistance was about to break, the lead elements of Longstreet's corps arrived on the scene. Quickly counterattacking, they struck Union forces with immediate results. Having become disorganized during their advance, the Union troops were forced back. While the fighting raged around Widow Tapp's Field, the Confederates discovered an unfinished railroad bed running south of and parallel to the Orange Plank Road and determined that it would offer them the cover they needed to advance beyond Hancock's left flank. Lee and Longstreet reacted immediately, sending a column under Longstreet’s staff officer Gilbert Moxley Sorrel, down the corridor. At about 11:00, Confederates emerged from the cut, rolling up the Union flank. Though demoralized, the Union soldiers managed to regroup behind earthworks that ran along the Brock Road.

In an effort to press the attack, Longstreet accompanied fresh troops advancing toward the Brock Road line. The air was dark with smoke from a number of small forest fires, and vision was further hampered by the dense brush of the Wilderness. In the course of the fighting, Longstreet was hit by friendly fire in the right arm and neck and taken from the field, urging that the attack continue. But hours passed as Confederate troops were reformed, a delay that was exacerbated by the arrival of Burnside’s corps on Longstreet's left flank. Grant had ordered Burnside to attack near dawn, but in characteristic fashion, it took the Rhode Islander until 2:00 to go into action. Finally, about 5:00, the Confederate attacks resumed. Concealed by smoke that blinded the Union troops, Longstreet’s men briefly breached a portion of the Union lines, but failures elsewhere forced a withdrawal.

On Ewell's front, John Gordon found that Sedgwick’s right flank was unprotected. Throughout the day he pressed for a flank attack but was rebuffed. Towards nightfall, Ewell relented and the attack moved forward. Pushing through the thick brush, it shattered Sedgwick's right forcing it back the Germanna Plank Road. However, it was too late to push the advantage. This moment became the subject of much controversy after the war, with former Confederates using Ewell to deflect blame away from Lee.

During the night a brushfire broke out between the two armies, burning many of the wounded and creating a surreal landscape of death and destruction. Union losses in the indecisive battle totaled around 17,600, while Lee's were approximately 11,000.

The fighting revealed deep flaws in the command structure of the Army of Northern Virginia. A. P. Hill had erred when he failed to improve his lines on the night of May 5, while his recurring illness, which dated back to his West Point days and flared up during times of stress, incapacitated him for portions of the battle. Ewell, too, performed poorly, particularly on May 6. And Longstreet, Lee’s ablest subordinate, would take 5 months to recuperate and return to the army.

Although disappointed by the tactical setbacks, Grant refused to accept defeat, and in doing so transformed the battle into a strategic victory for the Union. When a general worried about Lee’s next move, Grant tersely replied, “I am heartily tired of hearing what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land on our rear and on both our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.” And what Grant did, instead of retreating as the Army of the Potomac had always done in the past, was march south. When the troops realized what was happening, they spontaneously cheered Grant. The pressure on Lee would not abate.

[Ennath]

May 6, 1919
3rd Anglo-Afghan War, Part 1

The end of the 2nd Anglo-Afghan War in 1880 marked the beginning of almost 40 years of reasonably good relations between Britain and Afghanistan, during which time the British attempted to manage Afghan foreign policy through the payment of a large subsidy. Ostensibly, the country remained independent, however under the Treaty of Gandamak (1879) it accepted that in external matters it would “...have no windows looking on the outside world, except towards India”.

Habibullah Khan, who ascended the Aghan throne in 1901, was a pragmatic leader who sided with Britain or Russia according to whoever paid the highest price. Despite considerable resentment over not being consulted over the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, Afghanistan remained neutral during the First World War, resisting considerable pressure from the Ottoman Empire when it entered the conflict on the side of Imperial Germany and the Sultan (as titular leader of Islam) called for a holy war against the Allies.
Despite remaining neutral, however, Habibullah accepted a Turkish-German mission in Kabul and military assistance from the Central Powers as he attempted to play both sides of the conflict for the best deal. Through continual prevarication he resisted numerous requests for assistance, however he failed to keep in check troublesome tribal leaders, as Turkish agents attempted to foment trouble along the frontier.

The Turco-German mission left Kabul in 1916. By that time, however, it had successfully convinced Habibullah that Afghanistan was an independent nation and that it should be beholden to no one. With the end of the World War, Habibullah sought to gain reward from the British government for his assistance in remaining neutral. Looking for British recognition of Afghanistan's independence in foreign affairs, he demanded a seat at the Versailles Peace Conference. This request was denied by the Viceroy, Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, on the grounds that attendance at the conference was confined to the belligerents. Further negotiations were scheduled, but before they could begin Habibullah was assassinated on February 19, 1919.

This resulted in a power struggle as Habibullah's brother Nasrullah Khan proclaimed himself successor, while in Kabul Amanullah, Habibullah’s 3rd son, had also proclaimed himself Amir. However, the Afghan army suspected Amanullah’s complicity in the death of his father. Needing a way of cementing his power, upon seizing the throne in April, Amanullah posed as a man of democratic ideals, promising reforms of the government. He stated that Afghanistan should be free and independent and no longer bound by the Treaty of Gandamak. Amanullah had his uncle Nasrullah arrested for Habibullah’s murder and had him sentenced to life imprisonment. Nasrullah had been the leader of a more conservative element in Afghanistan and his treatment rendered Amanullah’s position as Amir somewhat tenuous. By April, he realized that if he could not find a way to placate the conservatives he would be unlikely to maintain his hold on power. Looking for a diversion from the internal strife of the Court and sensing advantage in the rising civil unrest in India, Amanullah decided to invade British India.

The Afghan Army of 1919 was not a very formidable force and was only able to muster some 50,000 men, with 280 modern guns. As in past years, the upper levels of the officer corps were riddled with political intrigue. The regular troops were ill-trained and ill-paid and the cavalry poorly-mounted. Arms varied from the modern to the obsolete. The supply system was rudimentary and organized transport lacking. In support of the regulars, the Afghan command expected to call out the frontier tribes, which could gather up to 30,000 fighters in the Khyber region alone. In stark contrast to the regulars, the tribal lashkars were probably the best troops that the Afghans had, being fierce, well-armed, and with plenty of ammunition.

The British were stretched. In May 1919, the entire North-West Frontier Province had 3 infantry divisions and 2 cavalry brigades, although there was also GHQ India's central reserve of an infantry division and a cavalry brigade. From this they formed a striking force of 2 infantry divisions and 2 cavalry brigades for offensive operations on the Khyber front with the possibility of using it also in the Tochi and Kurram areas. An infantry division and a mounted brigade were also detailed for operations on the Baluchistan–Zhob front. There were also 3 frontier brigades, as well as a number of frontier militia and irregular corps. Artillery was fairly modern, but in short supply. Most of the machine guns were of obsolete types. The British gained a command and control advantage with their use of motor transport and wireless communications while armored cars and RAF detachments increased their firepower and reach. They could also direct the fire of the 60-pdrs.

The Indian Army had been heavily committed to the World War; many of its units still had not returned from overseas, and those that had, had begun the process of demobilization and as such many regiments had lost almost all their most experienced men. Likewise, the British Army in India had been gutted. The regulars had been sent to the fronts, replaced with volunteers from the Territorial Army. After four years of mundane garrison duty, away from their families and disaffected, most of these men were really only interested in demobilization and returning to Britain to get on with their lives. They were in no way prepared for a hard fought campaign on the Indian frontier.

On May 3, 1919, Afghan troops crossed the border at the western end of the Khyber Pass and occupied the town of Bagh. It was strategically important to the British as it provided water to Landi Kotal, garrisoned by just 2 Indian companies. Although initially considered a minor border infraction, this attack was actually part of the wider invasion plan. For whatever reason the attack had been launched ahead of schedule, for Amanullah had intended to time it to coincide with an uprising that was being planned in Peshawar for May 8. The British were thus alerted.

The British Indian government declared war on Afghanistan on May 6. It was decided to reinforce Landi Kotal, but only 1 battalion was available (2/Somerset Light Infantry), which was quietly brought up on the 7th through the Khyber Pass in 37 trucks. Meanwhile, a cordon was thrown around Peshawar and demands made for the population to hand over the uprising’s ringleaders. Amid threats that the water supply would be cut, the inhabitants complied and by dawn on May 8 the situation in the city was under control and the threat of an uprising abated.

By May 9, the British had a brigade-sized force at Landi Kotal, under Brig. G.D. Crocker. They launched an attack to retake Bagh. However, the attack was too spread out to achieve the necessary strength at any point and failed. While a brigade quelled unrest at Rawalpindi, the British brought up 2 more brigades to Landi Kotal. On May 11, the attack was opened with a 30-minute bombardment by 18 guns. The North Staffordshires and 11th Gurkhas then charged with bayonets and drove the Afghans back into the pass, where they ran into an artillery ambush, then bombed by the RAF. The rout was total and the tribesman that might have otherwise have been expected to attack in support of the Afghans decided against it, instead turning their efforts to looting the battlefield and gathering the arms and ammunition that the retreating Afghans had left behind.

The British crossed the border and on May 13 seized control of the western Khyber and occupied Dacca. Here they came under attack. This assault was defeated and the British launched a counter-attack the following day, however, they were unable to consolidate their position and as a result it was not until May 17 that the area was secured and the Afghans withdrew.

Meanwhile, the previous day, British and Indian forces had launched an attack on Stonehenge Ridge, where an Afghan force of about 3000, with a number of artillery pieces and machine guns, had established itself. After of a preliminary bombardment, the 11th Sikhs had launched the initial assault, however, they were forced to halt when they ran out of ammunition at 0800 hours, and although resupply was complete by 1030, it was not until 1400 hours that the attack was able to restart. By this time the troops were exposed to the heat of the day; nevertheless, after another barrage was called down, the Sikhs carried the escarpment, to find that the Afghans had left the battlefield, leaving most of their equipment and artillery.

At this time, however, trouble struck in the British rear along their line of communications through the Khyber where the Khyber Rifles became disaffected and began to desert en masse. As a result, it was decided to disarm and disband the regiment in an effort to stop the spread of similar sentiment to other regiments. Following this Lord Chelmsford decided that the situation could be resolved by continuing the advance further into Afghanistan and gave the order for the brigade in Dacca to march towards Jalalabad, however, this order was unable to be carried out as fighting broke out further to the south and in the eastern Khyber.

[Ennath]

May 6, 1919
3rd Anglo-Afghan War, Part 2

As part of the Afghan attack on the Khyber, secondary attacks had been planned on Quetta and Kurram, and in the north in Chitral state and in the south in Baluchistan and the Zhob Valley. On May 23, the British posts around the Kurram Valley had to be abandoned. The following day British bombers attacked Kabul; however, it did little to stem the tide and the supply situation in Landi Kotal grew worse.

On May 27, the British commander in Quetta decided to attack the Afghan fortress at Spin Baldak, capturing it (the last time the British Army used an escalade) and, in the process, seized the initiative in the south; however, the situation in the center of the war zone, around Kurram, remained desperate. Afghan forces in this area were under the command of Nadir Khan and he possessed a force of some 14 battalions. Against this, the British at Thal, under Brig. Alexander Eustace, possessed only 4 battalions. To make matters worse, the only troops protecting the upper Tochi Valley were the disaffected North Waziristan Militia. Concerned that they would rise against him if left to their own devices, Eustace gave the order to abandon the militia outposts but in doing so precipitated the desertion of many of the militiamen. This disaffection spread and the South Waziristan Militia in Wana turned on their officers and any men who had remained loyal and attacked them. The survivors, under Major Russell, the commandant, were forced to fight their way out to a column of the North Zhob Militia which had been sent out to relieve them.

Seeing an opportunity, Nadir Khan decided to attack Thal. As the Frontier Constabulary had abandoned their posts, on the night of May 28-29, the Afghans were able to occupy a tower 500 yards from the fort and from there set fire to a number of food dumps. This made the situation in the fort dire, as supply levels had already been low; however, other factors stacked up against the British. Eustace was outnumbered and outgunned. He possessed no regular British infantry and his battalions were all inexperienced Indian units. After repelling an infantry assault on May 29, the following day the garrison was subjected to a heavy bombardment. As a result, the British decided to bring the 16th Infantry Division up to Peshawar from Lahore, for the purpose of advancing on Jalalabad and have it move up to Kurram. While part of the division was detached to defend Kohat, the 45th Infantry Brigade under Brig. Reginald Dyer (of Amritsar infamy) set out to relieve Eustace. Dyer’s force consisted of only 1 British battalion (1/25 London Regiment), as well as Dogras, Punjabis and Gurkhas; short of rations and possessing no transport, they were forced to march through intense heat to effect the relief. Despite the conditions, however, the troops of Dyer's command rose to the occasion and covered the last 18 miles in under 12 hours and on June 1 they ran into a blocking force of tribesman that barred both the northern and southern approaches to Thal. Dyer attacked both ends with his artillery, while sending his infantry against the southern approach. The tribesmen withdrew and the way through to Eustace’s garrison was cleared.

The next day, at dawn Dyer’s brigade launched an attack on the Afghan regulars positioned west of Thal and as this attack went in Nadir Khan sent out an envoy to deliver a message to the brigade commander. The message told Dyer that Amir Amanullah had ordered Nadir Khan to cease hostilities and asked Dyer to acknowledge that he would honor the request for an armistice that Amanullah had sent to the British Indian government on May 31. Unaware that this request had been made, and uncertain as to whether the message and request for a cease fire was a ruse on Nadir’s part, Dyer decided that he would not take any chances and sent the reply: “My guns will give an immediate reply, but your letter will be forwarded to the Divisional Commander”. Dyer continued his attack and as Nadir Khan’s force withdrew, Dyer followed them up with cavalry and armored cars from the 37th Lancers, while the RAF attacked and dispersed about 400 tribesmen that were in the area and which posed a threat of counterattack.

On June 3, the Afghan camp at Yusef Khel was seized by troops from the 1/25 London and 37th Lancers and shortly afterwards the armistice was signed. With this a cease fire came into effect, though some fighting continued, particularly in Chitral and in North Baluchistan, and it was not until August 8 that the settlement was finally concluded when the Treaty of Rawalpindi was signed.

Casualties during the conflict amounted to approximately 1000 Afghans killed in action, plus an unknown number to disease, while the British and Indian forces lost 236 killed in action, 615 wounded, 566 dead from cholera, and 334 dead as a result of other diseases and accidents. Ostensibly, the conflict was a British tactical victory. This is by virtue of the fact that the British repulsed the Afghan invasion and drove them from Indian territory, while Afghan cities were subjected to attack by Royal Air Force bombers. Nevertheless, the Afghans were ultimately able to secure their strategic political goals in the aftermath of the conflict. Thus the extent of the British tactical victory was limited and the Afghans also made strategic gains.

As a result of the peace treaty, the British ceased payment of the Afghan subsidy. They also stopped arms sales from India to Afghanistan. But, as British influence declined, the Afghans were able to gain control of their own foreign affairs, as a fully independent state. The British also made some political gains, most notably the reaffirmation of the Durand Line – which had long been a contentious issue between the two nations – as the political boundary separating Afghanistan from the North-West Frontier, and the undertaking that the Afghans made to stop interference on the British side of the line.