BOOK REVIEW : INFANTRY ATTACKS.

This is a new book recently purchased from The Works very cheaply. It was originally written in 1938 by the famous Erwin Rommel and is based on the authors experiences as a junior infantry officer in the First World War.

This is a great book giving interesting and exciting accounts of small unit combat in France, Romania and Italy. It is extraordinary that the author actually survived the war given the situations he experienced and the wounds he suffered. However it is also very clear why Rommel became such a great General in the Second World War as his grasp of tactics, appreciation of his enemy and understanding of the battlefield are outstanding. 

Overall a highly recommended book not just from a historic perspective but also for the insight into real combat tactics by a highly talented officer.

UPDATE.

Once again this weeks modelling activities have been rather limited due to ongoing decorating as mandated by my wife. The kitchen has  now been painted in preparation for the re-fit due in April. However with the virus shutdown I see no chance of this happening before late summer at best. The bathroom renovations are now due to follow the kitchen so they too will be delayed. That said just surviving the virus will be a bonus so I am not complaining !!!!!! Anyway this week I have completed a batch of new GS wagons which now await painting as shown below.

I have completed another batch of light and heavy GS trailer upgrades together with finishing six more new Heavy Weapons companies needed to upgrade existing Infantry battalions. I will be spending time in my workshop next week building a new set of storage units that I promised myself months ago so I hope that later in the week I will get more modelling time and make a bit more progress.

Hope my readers are coping with the shutdown ok, please stay well.

IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 4.

THE FOUNDING OF A NEW NATION.

By 1852  Russian civilisation had advanced to the Volga river. Like all rivers in TIAN it is very broad, over two miles in places, fairly shallow but with a very powerful current. The Russian advance had been facilitated by construction of a railway, in effect Russian control had followed the tracks. The Russians were well aware of the small farming settlements in the south of Ukraine and fully intended to establish some form of control over the Ukrainian people. However, of far greater interest to them were the stories of a rich, rapidly developing land further to the west. They decided to continue their westward expansion and constructed, with great difficulty, a bridge over the Volga and continued track laying to the west. At the same time small army patrols were sent on the long trek to the south to establish some form of loose control over the settlements in the south of Ukraine.

Much like the Russians, the French and Germans had also become very aware of the rapid development of the new people to the south of their colony and were much attracted to this new rich territory which seemed to offer so much more than their own, rather backward, rural colony.

By 1852 in the new territories, development was rapid but proceeding with no central control. Each community did as it pleased. Railways and roads were built only to meet local interests, goods and machinery were imported , mostly via Mexico, just to meet immediate needs and factories were built catering for local wants only without the benefits from mass production.That said most communities had instituted some form of local government based on universal franchise and  were electing a Mayor to lead civic development, a Judge to dispense law and a Sheriff to enforce basic laws of which there were many variations. However a number of prominent people across the land were now realising that some form of central government, indeed the founding of a nation, was urgently needed not only to make the best use  of the country and its riches for the people but also to forestall the rumours frequently now being heard of Russian and French/German interest in the new territory and the risks that represented to the independence of the people.

These leading citizens  agreed to form a committee to consider a way forward which would include representatives of as many of the various communities as possible. Each community was invited to send a representative to a Congress to discuss a way forward for the common good. The Congress met and it was soon demonstrated that the founding of a new, united nation, would be in the best interests of all. Much discussion followed with many sub committees being formed to consider specific questions pertaining to the founding of a new nation. In 1855 a draft Constitution was agreed which would create a new nation to be called THE UNION. A new capital city, called Rio Diego, was laid out just north of Manhattan, the biggest city at that time , and a national flag was designed based on a blue field representing the sky with a single white star in the first hoist area representing a single united nation under that sky. A  referendum was held throughout the land by all the communities and by an overwhelming majority the Constitution was agreed. The Congress immediately made A Declaration of Independence and THE UNION was created on 4 July 1856.

The basic system of Government instituted consisted of a representative being elected every five years from each community or group of small communities to a Congress. Local communities were renamed Districts and reorganised in terms of population to ensure equal representation for all. The members of that Congress would  choose one of their number to be President for a period of 5 years. The President would then form an executive and use the newly established civil service to create a government. The national government would be represented in all its departments in a Federal building in the main town or city of each community. Local government would continue much as before with an elected Mayor to manage local affairs including the law via a District Sheriff. Judges for each Districts were  appointed by an Attorney General who would lead a government Justice Department. Many of the existing judges were confirmed in their existing positions.

It was resolved to form a part time citizens Militia to defend the new nation. Gun ownership was universal in the new UNION although prior military service was unheard of in that generation. The new Militia was founded in battalions based on each new Federal building and volunteers sought, who after joining up, elected their own officers who were then commissioned by Congress. These new officers were actively encouraged to deeply study their new calling. A Federal Marshals service was also formed to provide both a national police force but also to provide security services to the UNION. More information on the Militia will be provided in the next post "The War of Independence."

Following the inauguration of the new UNION government, another of the early priorities agreed was to formally establish as far as possible the borders of the new nation. Mexico was the first country to be approached and with the friendly relations that already existed  at a local level these negotiations quickly concluded a formal border agreement based as before on the Rio Grande River.  Negotiations with the Chinese government were more difficult but a border was eventually established centrally in the mountain pass between the two countries. The attempt to negotiate a border with the French and Germans totally failed to agree any solution due to the French and German refusal to recognise the new UNION. In fact they claimed that all the country to the south of their colony was free land open to all, especially the French and Germans !!!!!! This created a strong sense of alarm in the UNION and prompted a redoubling of efforts to establish the Militia. A delegation was dispatched on the long journey to the Ukraine to seek agreement on a border. The delegation was astonished to find within only four  hundred miles of the UNION town of Richmond a Russian railhead with hundreds of workers and a Russian army detachment. Attempts to open negotiations failed totally with the Russians claiming also that the land to the west was open to all and they absolutely refused to recognise the UNION as a nation. The delegation returned as fast as possible and work on the new Militia took on an even greater urgency.

By this time, mid summer 1858, it was clear to the UNION government that the new nation faced a battle possibly on two fronts to maintain its existence.  Militia recruitment and training had progressed well but it was clear that substantial quantities of weapons especially artillery would be needed together with much greater supplies of ammunition than could be made in the existing small munitions factories operated by the companies of Winchester, Remington and Colt. With the major international weapons manufacturers being in Germany, France, Russia, China and Britain it was clear the UNION would have little chance of purchasing the weapons it needed. Approaches were made to the Mexican government for assistance. The Mexicans had little weapons production capacity but were more than willing to make purchases overseas secretly on behalf of the UNION. Thus was born the close future relationship between the UNION and Mexico. Contracts were placed for rifles, pistols and artillery together with ammunition for all.  In addition the Mexicans sought out foreign mercenaries to provide military expertise to help train the UNION Militia for the upcoming battles.

It only remained for the UNION to hope that the military supplies would arrive before the Russians reached Richmond or  the French and Germans decided to march south or maybe even both.

UPDATE.

Once again not too much to report this week as I am involved in still more decorating. Work has now moved to the kitchen to prepare it for re-fitting as the date approaches for the fitters to arrive. That said with the onset of the virus I have no idea if the fitting will actually take place. On that matter we have now hunkered down to ride it out. Good luck to all.
With regards to modelling I have almost completed the batch of 32 new GS wagons. Work continues still on upgrading light and heavy GS trailers and ammunition wagons. Another new Infantry battalion has been completed and work has started on another set of new heavy weapons companies to bring existing Infantry battalions up to the new scheduled strength.
There will be no book review this week for the simple reason that I have not finished reading the latest volume.  Later today I will publish the next installment of my IMAGI-NATIONS story, I hope it is of interest, please let me have comments, good or bad, it all helps.

IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 3.

 EARLY CIVILISATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONS.

In the 1890s of my world, scientists have yet to fully understand the  origins of the human species. All that is known is that civilisation largely developed around the northern shores of the Inland Sea. That said early seafarers, mainly from Britain, did discover  civilisations in Russia to the west and China to the south. Generally speaking however the vast central area of the continent  remained unoccupied and unexplored. Britain, as the only island in the Inland Sea, has always been by far the dominant maritime nation. Over the centuries the various Inland Sea coastal civilisations moved eastward to the north of the Rocky Mountains and developed a number of unique national identities.

However over the past several hundred years there has been a great deal of religious persecution in many of these nations. This  prompted a number of emigrations by various peoples over the years to some of the unexplored  regions of the continent in order to establish new nations free from the old ways. Each of these new nations has developed a unique way of life reflecting both their aspirations and the characteristics of their original civilisation.

The very first of the new countries founded by migrants from the north was Mexico. The people mostly came from Spain and initially settled along the coast. However over the years as they expanded inland they came into contact with a new civilisation, previously unknown, in the north west. These new people, the Arabs, and the Mexicans each found the other disagreeable and quickly established borders to keep themselves apart. Some years later the British started to establish trading posts and maritime support bases along the coasts of India and Africa in support of their discovery of  a new huge unpopulated island they called Australia. This island proved to have vast natural resources and prompted the British to start the colonisation of the island.

The other very early new nation was Ukraine to the far west of Russia. This nation was founded yet again by migrants seeking to escape persecution in Russia. However they came in very small numbers and travelled thousands of miles eventually settling in the south where they found rich agricultural lands  far away from the influence of Russia. Somewhat later explorers from both France and Germany moved, with great difficulty, across the River Rhine and found a seemingly endless land stretching away to the east and south. Very slowly over the years a thinly populated farming community developed across the north of this area in an easterly direction. Over those years the area became known as a sort of colony of France and Germany with the people seeing themselves more as citizens of those countries rather than having an identity of their own. Throughout those years however the huge lands to the south remained unexplored and unoccupied.

Around two hundred years ago a convoy of British settlers bound for Australia were shipwrecked on the coast of the Southern Sea about half way between Mexico and Ukraine. Most of the settlers survived and with the stores and materials recovered from the wrecked ships were able to establish a substantial settlement in the rich farming lands near present day Miami. Over the following years the settlements grew and were supplemented by many additional British and even some other migrants from the counties round the Inland Sea. These new communities flourished and rapidly spread north , fanning out into vast tracts of exceedingly rich country with an  abundance of natural resources. Over time the population focus moved north and many new towns and cities were established far from the coast which became a sort of backwater. A  population explosion began in this rich land and industrial development started. After a period of about 150 years a sense of national identity was growing rapidly and the first moves began to establish a nation and firm up the borders with neighbouring countries.

As development moved north, links with Britain faded and the new nation became increasingly self sufficient and isolationist. This coincided with contact being established with the Mexicans who had retained their links to the rest of the world and offered the possibility of  limited trading opportunities. Cordial relations were established and a border was locally agreed along the Rio Grande River. Limited contact was also established with Ukraine  although a formal border was not established as neither side found the border region worthy of development to any large degree as the area was mostly scrubland and  arid. Further north contact was briefly made with China in a pass through the Rocky Mountains. Neither side found the other agreeable and tensions quickly arose,  both sides quickly deciding independently to avoid settlement anywhere near the other. Finally contact was established in the far north with the French/German colony. Yet again the two sides soon developed a mutual hostility based mostly on the French and Germans resenting the establishment of a potentially dynamic new nation so close to their somewhat underdeveloped colony. No   agreement on a border was made and again both sides decided separately to discourage settlement anywhere near the other.

So the scene is set for the next chapter which will see the formal establishment of a new nation and the approach of the War of Independence. If you have read this far, please let me have your comments, is this going the right way for you to want to read more ????

BOOK REVIEW : THE WAR. VOLUME TWO.

This is of course the second half of the letters of William Russell, the Times correspondent, on the Crimea War. The book, which covers the period after the death of Lord Raglan to the evacuation,  is not quite as interesting as the first volume. That reflects more the comparative lack of action during the period in question rather than any failure by the author. There are however a number of interesting discussions of various issues including the current, at that time, debate on the possible abolition of promotion by purchase and preparations for the evacuation. What is clear is that the peace agreement was a good result for the Russians. The Allies  had had enough by then and were pleased to be rid of the war. Russell laments the missed opportunities during the war for inflicting heavy defeats on the Russians, his views obviously coming from conversations with senior officers. Overall a good book if only for clearly illustrating the poor quality of the British Army high command of the time.

UPDATE.

My update this week is a bit limited. Most of my time has been spent working to fix the problems in our cloakroom left by the sacked plumber. We have another man coming to do the work on the other two bathrooms next month however I thought I would do as much as possible in the cloakroom just to prove to myself that our standards are not excessively high. This I have done !!!!! The new man certainly did not think we were asking too much which is encouraging.

On the modelling front, work continues on the latest Infantry battalion and upgrading of ammunition wagons, light GS trailers and heavy GS trailers. The batch of 42 new light GS trailers have been completed and the vehicles issued to units. This week I have started a batch of new GS wagons.
I have done a fair bit of blogging over the week including publishing the first two installments of my Imagi-Nations story which include my excellent map of which I am very proud. I now have a printed version of the map to A3 size framed on the wall, it looks good. The next installment will be published over the weekend.

IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 2.

MY WORLD MAP.

It is important for the reader to understand at the outset that my imagination only goes so far therefore most of the names of countries, mountains, rivers, towns and cities in my world will be very familiar. I do not rule out that one day I may invent new names but for now I have used names that appeal to me, it's my world after all. It will also be clear on which real country my nation is founded, no apologies, it's a country with which I have close personal links and the history of which has always been of great interest to me.

My map has been created for me by Greg Shipp of "gshipp@lostinmaps.co.uk". Greg is a UK based professional cartographer. He has taken my crude sketches and ideas and turned them into , I believe, a work of art. Greg has proven himself to be constructive, cooperative, patient and a pleasure to work with over the past couple of months as together we turned my fantasy into reality.  I could not be more happy with the result. I have to say at this point that the map is subject to copyright and may not be copied without permission, it may only be viewed on this blog. That said I intend to include the map at the beginning of all future posts of  IMAGI-NATIONS to facilitate the readers understanding of the geography under discussion. 

My world is called TIAN. This is a Chinese word meaning heaven, which of course it is to me !!!!! The word was suggested by my wife and is also an anagram of her name, so the best of all worlds really. !!!!! 
The map represents my world today, that is 7 March 1890. Therefore the reader must realise that when discussing historic events in TIAN the map may not reflect the exact geography of the past. In that event I will explain. So without more comment, here it is...........

IMAGI-NATIONS : PART 1.

MY  PLANET, ITS GEOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY.

Since the opening of my correspondence last year with Mark of the  ManofTin blog and his introduction to me of a wide range of interesting blogs, I have come across Imagi-Nations as a format for wargaming. Arrogantly it never occurred to me that other people may also create  imaginary countries for their wargaming and modelling, I genuinely thought I was alone in this sort of activity, who else could be that weird ????? It is a great relief to find that I am neither alone nor weird  but in fact share a common interest with many other like minded people.  That said I do have an imaginary world rather than just nations, indeed, my world even has unique geology. It occurred to me that others may be interested in the world that my armies inhabit, their battles and enemies. This idea has separately also been suggested to me by Ian Dury who gave me several ideas for various topics I could write about. Therefore with that encouragement this is the first of a series of posts which will detail my world and my armies adventures in it which will commence by outlining the special geological and technical features of my planet.

In a parallel universe exists a planet broadly similar to Earth but with several significant differences. Not least of these is that the landmass is all together in one mega continent with only a few  islands. (Apparently this is very common for Imagi Nation worlds !!!!).  There are only a few  major rivers but although they are shallow in many places they are  broad  with powerful flows  making them very difficult to bridge and more or less inaccessible for ships to sail on. The mountains are much higher than on Earth, over 40,000 feet in many cases making them physically impassable over long distances. Lastly, the processes that have created oil and natural gas on Earth have not occurred on my planet, leaving only vast deposits of coal, which is therefore the only source of energy.

In most respects my planet has evolved in the same way as  Earth and has now reached the equivalent of the 1890's on Earth. At this time however, progress has slowed in some areas. My planet's development is firmly harnessed to the horse and steam train as the only forms of transportation and apart from the very earliest experiments in coal fired steam generation of electricity, the future holds no prospect of an Earth like oil based revolution. Small quantities of oil for lubrication purposes and a little gas are becoming available as by products from steaming of coal for the production of coke for iron smelting but these are still very infant technologies. However, radio technology has advanced a little faster than on Earth and is at a level similar to that on Earth in 1918. In addition the telephone and telegraph are in widespread use and general industrial capabilities are very close to those on earth in the 1890s.

The next post will include a map and discuss the general history of my civilisation , the characteristics of the various nations, their  history and  relationships with each other. If you have any questions or comments on the above please let me know, it may well help to inform my future offerings.

BOOK REVIEW : THE WAR. VOLUME ONE.

The wonderful book was found, very cheaply priced, on an antiques stall at a Christmas fair last December. It is a first edition from 1855 in excellent condition and is now the oldest book in my library. The war in question is the Crimea War. Many will know that this war was the first to be covered in depth by a newspaper journalist namely William Russell of the Times. His reports alerted the public in England to the appalling conditions of the British forces in the Crimea and prompted the adventures of  Florence Nightingale as well as a public clamor for better Government support for the Army. This book is a compilation of all Russell's letters to the Times from the embarkation of the British forces in March 1854 until the death of the commander in chief, Lord Raglan, in June 1855. Part two of the book covers the subsequent period until the departure from the Crimea of the last British troops in 1856. Following my discovery of the first edition, I searched online for part two and found it as a reprint, there being no sign of an original copy, this of course I have purchased.

It is clear from Russell's letters, which form this book, that he did not have any military education however he was very observant and clear minded and quickly realised that the British Army authorities had no idea of logistics. On only page 6 he made his first criticism of the arrangements for feeding the troops as they arrived in Malta on their journey to The Crimea. In fact no arrangements had been made with the result that thousands of troops landed only to find that the island's resources were totally insufficient to feed so many. The same situation prevailed on arrival in Crimea in that although ship loads of supplies had by then caught up, there were no means  to move the supplies from the ships up to the troops. Additionally Russell also criticised the authorities for the dreadful lack of care for the wounded and sick. These failings continued for several months until public pressure in England forced the authorities to act.

Russell's descriptions of the fighting and early battles are typical of a non military man observing from a distance. If you want detailed  reports of the fighting you should look elsewhere however his writings on  the activities in the rear areas are exceedingly good and give a real understanding of the conditions under which the troops lived , fought and died. He also demonstrates a strong appreciation of strategy and bemoans the lack of strategic insight by the Generals as evidenced not least by The Charge of the Light Brigade.

The book proves beyond doubt that both the Army command and the War Office had no grasp of logistics, the idea seemingly being that just loading  large quantities of supplies on ships and dispatching them to the Crimea was all that was needed. No thought was given to providing labour to unload ships, storage facilities or vehicles/horses to transport the supplies to the troops nor even to providing officers skilled in such activities. The British Army of 1854 was wholly focused on smart uniforms, shiny cavalry horses and glory rather than the provision during a campaign of accommodation for man and horse or food for either. One can only assume that the logistical knowledge that must have existed in the army from the Napoleonic wars had been forgotten or perhaps perhaps more likely the study of logistics was not seen as a glamorous enough calling for officers of that time. What ever the reason, as usual, it was the soldiers who paid the price for the authorities failure to address logistics correctly.

Overall an excellent book and a great addition to my library, I am looking forward to reading part 2.

UPDATE.

Due to continued issues with the planned renovation of our bathrooms I have not had too much modelling time over the past week. We have now found a new contractor to do the work but he can not start for another month at least so we just have to keep waiting.

That said I have constructed a new batch of 42 light GS trailers and will commence painting this week. In addition yet another new Infantry battalion is in course of painting and the upgrading programme for existing ammunition wagons, light GS trailers and heavy GS trailers is continuing.
The most exciting event, for me at least, is that my IMAGI-NATIONS map has been completed. I am very pleased indeed with the results. I have had a paper version printed and am awaiting delivery of a custom picture frame for my study wall. Therefore I will very shortly start publishing a new series of posts on my IMAGI-NATION which I hope may be of interest to readers of this blog.