Questions pertaining to characteristics of armed forces' structure, manpower, equipment, or expenditures.
2
votes
2answers
354 views
Has the training of Russian troops improved since 1989? [on hold]
Recently, USA has excluded Pakistan from military training list. On the flip side, Pakistan has signed an agreement with Russian Federation for the training of its officers. My personal assessment is, ...
14
votes
1answer
2k views
In Britain, what was the “Junior Service” in 1913?
I read a marriage notice from 1913, which noted that the father of the groom "has four sons abroad, three having served with distinction in the junior Service".
(West Sussex Gazette, Thu 13 Feb 1913, ...
3
votes
0answers
101 views
Can you identify this military uniform? Montana 1850-1920
Portrait taken in Montana-best guess between 1850 and 1920. WWI?? Slouch hat. Single-breasted coat with 5 or 6 buttons. Breast pocket on each side; diagonal, flap with button. Knee-high boots. Curvy ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Can the assignment “Depot Battalion” in Hart's Annual Army List be linked to a specific regimental assignment?
In this question I asked about the meaning of the assignment "depot battalion" in Hart's Annual Army List, a book that lists the assignments of every British officer in the Victoria era, each year.
...
8
votes
2answers
371 views
What does “Depot Battalion” mean in Hart's Annual Army List?
Copies of Hart's Annual Army List are available online, and consist of a list of all British army officers employed in a given year.
Some of the listings are self-explanatory (e.g. so-and-so with ...
3
votes
0answers
77 views
Mutual support in Latin American wars of independence
Nascent Latin American countries expelled Spain with some mutual aid from each other. Between 1815 and 1822, independent Argentina and Chile sent newly acquired naval forces (under Bouchard, Brown, ...
14
votes
2answers
3k views
Who was Richard of York at the Battle of Grunwald?
Gloria.TV states that "the foreign knight,...Richard of York" fought, and was killed, at the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410. I can find no one from the house of York who might have been at ...
8
votes
2answers
361 views
Why were so few Koreans enlisted in the Japanese Army before conscription was introduced in 1944?
Citing two sources, the article Korea under Japanese rule gives the following figures showing that very few Koreans who volunteered for enlistment into the Japanese army 1938 – 1943 were actually ...
1
vote
1answer
167 views
Can someone help me ID this insignia?
Charles Miller - fought with US Army at battle at Wounded Knee - this photographer took images during and after the Battle. Anyone recognize the insignia? He later became a Mason? Could it be from ...
-1
votes
1answer
201 views
Where was this flag flown?
I have a 48 Star flag that I have recently acquired from a seller off of a similar setting to Craigslist. He said he’s found it in an attic and really has no other information on it. Because the size ...
2
votes
1answer
187 views
Turko-Mongol horse tactics and Western European response
Did not seem that Western European armies stood up to Turco-Mongol military tactics such as the horse archer. Did these European armies ever learn to counter those tactics? The Slavs (Polish) had a ...
37
votes
5answers
6k views
Why didn't line infantry tactics try to keep up a constant volley of fire?
Often in movies on the American revolution and back when muskets were common place the opposing armies would line up facing each other and take turns firing. One side, then the other. Kind of like a ...
2
votes
2answers
218 views
Are there any surviving military textbooks from the Napoleonic era?
Napoleon attended school for military officers, so it stands to reason they would have some books around which they based their curriculum. Are there any complete and publicly available recordings of ...
4
votes
1answer
216 views
What were the American-equipped armies of Nationalist China equipped with?
During the latter years of WWII, the US equipped and trained a number of Chinese (Kuomintang) armies to fight the Japanese. Initially the Chinese armies were greatly inferior, armed with bolt-action ...
4
votes
2answers
411 views
How professional and well equipped were US Civil War soldiers?
Essentially, what the question says - did the war cause Americans to become better at war than the Eurasian powers (Germany, France, England, Russia, Japan, whatever, I am just making up a list) at ...
4
votes
1answer
273 views
How much time would it take to mobilize an army during WW2?
How long would it take to mobilize the armed forces of a Western country during the 20th century? Specifically, during and around WW2. I'm also looking for the number of troops as-well.
3
votes
0answers
142 views
Origin of the Petropavlovsk artillery company
The frontier port of Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka, was an army outpost which acquired an artillery company at some point before the garrison was dissolved in 1812 and the port became regional capital in ...
4
votes
0answers
67 views
How did the Russian Empire choose officers for Kamchatka?
The Russian Imperial army and navy had to build frontier outposts in very remote locations. Around 1800, the few forts and ports in Kamchatka might have a Lieutenant as commanding officer, a couple of ...
3
votes
1answer
172 views
How to attack Fort Ross
Imperial Spain was upset when the Russian-American Company founded its Californian outpost Fort Ross. Local Spanish officials always stayed cordial with the Russians, though. Both sides were remote ...
38
votes
4answers
8k views
Is there any evidence of armies enrolling women in fighting roles in significant number in antiquity or the middle ages?
Most sources I find seems to portray women's participation in warfare, as leaders and or soldiers, as more of an exception than the rule during antiquity and the middle ages.
Is there any source ...
7
votes
1answer
160 views
What cult images are likely to be found in a Second Punic war era Roman field camp?
Were cult images (e.g. statues of gods) carried by a Roman army (or its commander) around 200 BC? If so, which gods? And were would they be kept while in camp? (I am not referring to items individual ...
11
votes
2answers
287 views
What was the legal process of raising a legion in late Republican Rome?
I've read some about both the Roman army and the Late Republican period, but realized that, while I understand well enough how legions worked in the field, I have only a very incomplete idea of who ...
8
votes
2answers
283 views
Understanding my 96 year old father's US Army discharge papers
I have my father's discharge papers and medals. I am trying to organize and classify his medals properly.
Line 32 reads - Sicilian, Naples-Foggia, Southern France, Rhineland GO105 WD45
Line 33 reads ...
13
votes
1answer
235 views
Why did the wagon forts of the Hussites fade away?
The wagon forts of Hussites were quite successful tactically, and helped them repel five crusades from European leaders.
I was wondering why did the wagon fort tactics not see a wider adoption in ...
10
votes
2answers
1k views
Distinguish Mitsubishi G6M1-L2 and G4M1 aircraft in this picture
Here is a picture of Bataan 1 and Bataan 2:
Wikipedia:
Bataan 1 and Bataan 2 were two demilitarized Japanese bomber/transport aircraft that carried the first surrender delegations from Japan to Ie ...
5
votes
3answers
291 views
How accurately could ancient soldiers/commanders maneuver during battles
I am currently working on a small strategy game/interactive simulation of historical battles, whose main goal is to give the player – playing as the general of a ancient army – a more realistic amount ...
60
votes
6answers
22k views
Why didn't Wehrmacht soldiers refuse to kill civilians?
Why didn't Wehrmacht Soldiers refuse to execute civilians (and Kids) when it was clear that they did nothing wrong?
I know that they were probably told they're partisans or Jews or something along ...
4
votes
4answers
496 views
Has an offensive ever succeeded without an advantage in artillery?
I am asking if an offensive has ever succeeded without an advantage in artillery. You can quantify this in any number of ways:
Number of guns
Shell tonnages
Some qualitative technical advantage in ...
10
votes
1answer
146 views
How was the Roman army in fact organized during Caesar's campaigns in Gaul?
I'm finding contradictory descriptions about how Roman legions were organized during the Gallic Wars (58-50 BC).
An appendix on Roman military organization in The Landmark Julius
Caesar highlights ...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
Were the mongol army boots of 13th century lined with fur?
I want to know about 13th century Mongolian army boots.
I know they used leather for their boots. The leather and the source of the leather is irrelevant to my research for now.
My question is that ...
1
vote
3answers
343 views
Has anyone ever got more than a 21 Gun Salute?
The 21 gun salute is given at the funeral for US military personnel. Has there ever been someone who got more than 21 rounds fired?
Primarily for the US but not limited to I am looking for instances ...
3
votes
1answer
175 views
Vietnam war “blue tag”
I was talking to a random former USA Vietnam war soldier - I don't know what branch - who said he got out of Vietnam on a "blue tag".
What did he mean? I missed the opportunity to ask for ...
3
votes
1answer
204 views
How did the US plan to use nuclear shells for naval guns?
Acoodring to wikipedia:
The W19 nuclear system was adapted into a nuclear artillery shell for the US Navy 16 inches (410 mm) battleship guns, the W23. Production of the W23 began in 1956 and they ...
31
votes
9answers
11k views
Were there any high-ranking female soldiers during the Middle ages?
There are several fictional works describing female knights in a fantasy world, but do they have any real world counterpart? For example, a knight or a high-ranking female military officer during the ...
3
votes
1answer
166 views
How did steppe-nomad military tactics change in response to widespread firearms in the 18th/19th centuries?
Please forgive my ignorance of the cultures extant in the Eurasian steppe at this time, but I was wondering how the military tactics of steppe-cultures changed in response to the massed musket tactics ...
-1
votes
2answers
154 views
In which estate were the soldiers prior to the French revolution?
In which estate did the soldiers come prior to the French revolution?
In my book it is written "peasants had to serve in the army..." and "army was not open as I was not a noble by birth"
3
votes
0answers
277 views
What kind of knife is this?
My grandpa had this knife and we do not know anything about it. It seems to be very interesting and I am very curious as to what kind of knife this is and where it came from.
Edit: Grandpa was born ...
6
votes
1answer
117 views
Why did Pichegru defect?
General Pichegru was a famous French Revolutionary military leader who had won great victories in 1795. And then, all of a sudden:
Although he had become a hero of the Revolution, he allowed his
...
22
votes
2answers
5k views
Was Hiroshima targeted because its mountains would “rebound the explosion back into the city for more damage”?
In English class, while analyzing the anti-war themes of a book, my teacher brought up something that I had never heard before and honestly significantly doubt the accuracy of. She said that:
...
7
votes
1answer
179 views
What uniform is in this picture?
Believe he was in the Somerset Light Infantry based at Jellallabad camp Taunton sometime between 1890 and 1914. Any help from anyone appreciated. We cannot find his birth or death as he used ...
4
votes
0answers
105 views
What was the military makeup of the Baltic tribes/Lithuania from 1200 to 1500?
There is quite a lot written on the Teutonic order and it's military, but I'm having a harder time finding any good English sources on the military of one of it's chief foes, Lithuania and the other ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
3
votes
1answer
127 views
Identifying a WW2 German badge/medal
Is anyone able to identify this? It appears to be a part of a badge as there is a leather backing on it.
0
votes
1answer
115 views
Can anyone identify this early 20th century uniform?
Maybe US, British or Irish. Might be military or civil. Early 20th century. Medals on right chest? Commemorative or mirror image?
4
votes
1answer
118 views
In France, 1916, would a soldier who was invalided out of the army, e.g. as an amputee, still get his army pay?
In France, the law providing ex-servicemen with an army pension did not come in until 1919, so if wounded soldiers were unable to fight, what did they live on?
2
votes
2answers
214 views
How “old” is mechanized infantry in terms of usage in warfare and what should be called as such?
This topic often fascinated me as a kid. I often questioned myself if there was an equivalent of the use of machinery to protect ground soldiers during a siege or an attack at some city or whatever ...
2
votes
0answers
57 views
Palestinian Troop Strength During 1948 War
I am trying to estimate the strength of the Palestinian irregular forces during the 1947-49 War.
I find two well documented groups:
Army of the Holy War, commanded by Husayni, based in Ramalla, ...
4
votes
0answers
91 views
Has the Arab League created a Joint Defense Council and a Permanent Military Commission?
Have the Arab League's Joint Defense Council and the Permanent Military Commission been created?
There seems to be a lack of information concerning this topic on the internet, but by the Treaty of ...
6
votes
1answer
134 views
Help identifying a strange uniform jacket
I've got nothing to go on here other than this is quite old. Thick navy wool with dark gray (or black) Corded striping. One gold star on right sleeve. Handwritten tag is hard to read, has a long ...
11
votes
2answers
340 views
How could black men serve as officers in the US army during segregation?
How did black men such as Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr achieve high ranks in the US military during segregation? Those ranks should put them in position of power over white people, not very segregation-...
