Warfare in News

Posted on Wednesday 31st July

Squadron Leader Tony Gaze died on Monday at his home in Victoria, Australia, aged 93. A highly regarded Spitfire pilot, he served as Battle of Britain ace Douglas Bader's wingman during the Second World War, and later became the first Australian to compete in a Grand Prix.

Squadron Leader Gaze was credited with 12 kills and won the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross 3 times. In 1943, his Spitfire was shot down over Occupied France and he made the 8 week long journey back to Britain by foot.

He famously enjoyed motor racing, and after the war he suggested creating what is now the Goodwood Motor Circuit from the track at his West Sussex wartime base, RAF Westhampnett. He became the first Australian to compete in Formula One, and launched the country's first international driving team.

He followed in the footsteps of his father, Irvin, who was a fighter pilot during the First World War.

Further Reading

Dogfight: The Battle of Britain

Only £12.99

Dogfight: The Battle of Britain

(Paperback - 224 pages)
by Adam Classen

This book tells the story of Australians and New Zealanders in one of the Second World War's defining and most
memorable campaigns. From 9 July until 31 October 1940, the German air force (the Luftwaffe) sought aerial supremacy in skies over England as a prerequisite for an invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion). The ensuing conflict of Luftwaffe and RAF aircraft in the long summer of 1940 became forever known as the Battle of… Read more...

Of further interest...

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The Battle of Britain: Black Thursday

Wed 12th August

During the summer and autumn of 1940, the Luftwaffe launched their air campaign to gain superiority over the RAF. They were not successful, and this defeat marked a turning point in the Allies’ favour. A handful of the 3000 or so airmen who fought in the Read article...

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A Great Australian: Wing Commander Noel Constantine Remembered

Tue 25th July

A forgotten Spitfire Ace inspired the Allies’ fight for air supremacy in Burma Read article...

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Australia's First Blood and the Battle of Britain

Wed 15th July

During the summer and autumn of 1940, Germany launched its air campaign to gain superiority over the RAF. It was not successful, and this defeat marked a turning point in the Allies’ favour. A handful of the 3000 or so airmen who fought in the Battle of B Read article...

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Australia's Few and the Battle of Britain

Mon 26th January

Kristen Alexander tells the story of one of Australia's Few in the Battle of Britain, Bob Millington, on an epic day, 31 August 1940. Read article...

Dates in History

German forces cross the Somme River

24th March 1918

On March 24, 1918, German forces cross the Somme River, achieving their first goal of the major spring offensive begun three days earlier on the Western Front. Operation Michael, engineered by the German chief of the general staff, Erich von Ludendorff, aimed to decisively break through the Allied lines on the Western Front and destroy the British and French forces. The offensive began on the morning of March 21, 1918, with an aggressive bombardment. The brunt of the attack that followed was directed at the British 5th Army, commanded by General Sir Hubert Gough, stationed along the Somme River in northwestern France. This section was the most poorly defended of any spot on the British lines, due to the fact that it had been held by the French until only a few weeks before and its defensive positions were not yet fully fortified. Panic spread up and down the British lines of command, intensified by communications failures between Gough and his subordinates in the field, and German gains increased over the subsequent days of battle. On March 23, Crown Prince Rupprecht, on the German side of the line, remarked that The progress of our offensive is so quick, that one cannot follow it with a pen. The next day, German troops stormed across the Somme, having previously captured its bridges before French troops could destroy them. Despite having resolved to concentrate on weaker points of the enemy lines, Ludendorff continued to throw his armies against the crucial villages of Amiens (a railway junction) and Arras—which the British and French were instructed to hold at all costs—hoping to break through and push on towards Paris. By that time, German troops were exhausted, and transportation and supply lines had begun to break down in the cold and bad weather. Meanwhile, Allied forces had recovered from the initial disadvantage and had begun to gain the upper hand, halting the Germans at Moreuil Wood on March 30. On April 5, Ludendorff called off Operation Michael. It had yielded nearly 40 miles of territory, the greatest gains for either side on the Western Front since 1914. He would launch four more offensive pushes over the course of the spring and summer, throwing all of the German army’s resources into this last, desperate attempt to win the war. (www.history.com)

Further Reading

The Somme
(Paperback - 355 pages)
by Richard van Emden

The offensive on the Somme took place between July and November 1916 and is perhaps the most iconic battle of the Great War. It was there that Kitchener’s famous ‘Pals’ Battalions were first sent into action en masse and it was a battlefield where many of the dreams and aspirations… Read more at Pen & Sword...

Only £14.99 at Pen & Sword Books.

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