“david wragg”

The year 1940 was bad for Britain; German victories in Poland and France left the British fighting alone. On the night of November 11, the Royal Navy's "HMS Illustrious struck back with a daring raid in which 20 Swordfish torpedo bombers inflicted severe losses on the Italian fleet at Taranto. Here ... More

In 1914 the Royal Navy was the largest in the world, as the 'two power standard' meant that it had to be equal to the combined strength of any two other fleets. It had benefitted from the attentions of a dynamic First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Lord 'Jacky' Fisher. Fisher had thrown out many shi... More

From the American Civil War onwards, railways have been an important aspect of war. While the first interest by the military in railways in Britain was intended primarily for internal security, the Boer War saw massive movement of men and their horses over the London and South Western Railway and th... More

Aviation expert David Wragg has written the definitive reference work on the history of aviation. International in scope, the dictionary has more than 4,000 entries, covering all aspects of aviation terminology, past and present. It defines terms specific to both military and civil aviation and incl... More

Operation BARBAROSSA, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, was a turning point second only to Pearl Harbor. Russia became an ally overnight but a most difficult, dangerous and demanding one. Stalin desperately needed oil, equipment and modern technology but the only practical route was r... More

The victorious German Blitzkrieg assault on Holland, Belgium and Northern France placed Anglo-French relations under huge strain. The Vichy surrender raised real British fears that the Germans would force the French Fleet, the fourth largest in the world, to turn against their former ally, while in ... More

Except for the strength of the U-boat fleet at the height of the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Navy, or Kriegsmarine, was never a match for the Royal Navy, even though the latter was overstretched and fighting in the Atlantic, Pacific, the Mediterranean and the Arctic. It was not meant to be th... More