Category Archives: War

Field Marshal Douglas Haig’s Glittering Prizes

Posted on September 15, 2017 by odeboyz

Douglas Haig was adored by the British after he’d defeated Germany in 1918. Traditionally returning military heroes were garlanded with honours and wealth and Haig was no exception. Lloyd George, the Prime Minister, had doubts about the stellar qualities of … Continue reading →

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Kennedy, Khrushchev and the Great Compromise 1962-3

Posted on August 4, 2017 by odeboyz

  The 1958 installation of missiles in Italy and Turkey provided compelling evidence, for the Soviets, of the USA’s malign intentions. Khrushchev resolved to remove the American missile threat to the USSR’s existence. The Cuban Revolution in 1959 provided an … Continue reading →

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Adolf Hitler’s pitiless indifference to the suffering of the Wehrmacht 7th November 1942

Posted on July 18, 2017 by odeboyz

The table was elegantly set with silver cutlery, cut glass, good china and flower arrangements. As we began our ample meal, none of us at first saw that a freight train was stopped on the adjacent track. From the cattle … Continue reading →

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Lunacy

Posted on July 10, 2017 by odeboyz

Dictator Kim Jong Un, in North Korea President Donald Trump, in America Each with inflated egos Each believe they’re supermen: fools. As bigger nuclear payload rockets Designed to kill without pity Demonstrates the might of true stupidity To the millions … Continue reading →

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Theresa May: an unlucky political general

Posted on July 7, 2017 by odeboyz

“I know he’s a good general, but is he lucky?” Napoleon Early evidence suggested that Theresa May was a lucky political general. Political accidents fell in place in exactly the right order for her to emerge as Prime Minister in … Continue reading →

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The Sledgehammer and the Scalpel: Hamburg 1943 and Amiens 1944

Posted on June 16, 2017 by odeboyz

Introduction The Germans achieved a stupendous military victory in the summer of 1940 leaving Britain isolated behind the English Channel, which acted as a ‘moat’. It quickly became apparent the Germans couldn’t invade Britain and vice versa. A military impasse … Continue reading →

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The importance of the battle of Mukden (1905)

Posted on April 21, 2017 by odeboyz

The carnage of the first world war wasn’t inevitable. The horrendous losses suffered could have been avoided by high commands sensitive to the evolution of warfare techniques. Their ‘war games’ were a hapless iteration of previous obsolete military experiences. Nine … Continue reading →

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The Ricardian Curse, Margaret Thatcher and North Sea Oil

Posted on January 27, 2017 by odeboyz

Introduction Liz Truss hero worships Margaret Thatcher and emulated her when she too became prime minister in September 2022. Truss wrecked the UK economy in 48 hours of economic insanity. Margaret Thatcher wrecked the UK economy over a much longer … Continue reading →

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The women of Paris during the battle of Verdun 1916*

Posted on January 24, 2017 by odeboyz

As if by the germination of a tiny quantity of yeast, apparently of spontaneous generation, young women now went about all day with tall cylindrical turbans on their heads, as a contemporary of Mme Tallien’s might have done, and from … Continue reading →

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Flogging and Courage: the British Army 1800-81

Posted on January 12, 2017 by odeboyz

Discipline in the British Army was sadistic. There was institutional savagery with floggings and public execution occurring so frequently they were normalised. The army had a subliminal desire to ‘toughen’ up soldiers for the ordeals that lay ahead of them. … Continue reading →

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