Military Despatches Vol 11 May 2018 Ten military blunders of WWII Ten military mistakes that proved costly Under three flags The man who fought for three different nations Head-to-Head World War II fighter aces Battlefield The Battle of Spion Kop The Boer Commandos A citizen army that was forged in battle For the military enthusiast Military Despatches May 2018 What’s in this month’s edition Feature Articles 6 Top Ten military blunders of World War II Click on any video below to view Ten military operations of World War II that had a major impact on the final outcome of the war. How much do you know about movie theme 16 Under three flags songs? Take our quiz Some men have fought in three different wars, but rarely have they fought for three different countries. and find out. This was one such man. Page 6 20 Rank Structure - WWII German Military Hipe’s Wouter de The old South African Over the next few months we will be running a se- Goede interviews former Defence Force used ries of articles looking at the rank structure of vari- 28’s gang boss David a mixture of English, ous armed forces. This month we look at the German Williams. Afrikaans, slang and Military in World War II. techno-speak that few 24 A matter of survival outside the military Over the next few months we will be running a series could hope to under- of articles looking at survival, something that has al- stand. Some of the terms ways been important for those in the military. We start were humorous, some off by looking at how to put together a survival tin. Page 16 were clever, while others were downright crude. 27 Semper Fi Gunny Former Marine drill instructor and actor R. Lee Er- mey, who played the iconic role of Gunnery Sergeant Part of Hipe’s “On the Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, has passed away at the couch” series, this is an age of 74. interview with one of author Herman Charles Head-to-Head Bosman’s most famous 28 World War II Fighter Aces characters, Oom Schalk We look at those aces that achieved 20 or more kills. Page 28 A taxi driver was shot Lourens. Hipe spent time in dead in an ongoing Hanover Park, an area Cover Photograph war between rival taxi plagued with gang The editor took this photograph while observing a organisations. violence, to view first- FIBUA training exercise by the South African Nation- hand how Project al Defence Force (SANDF). FIBUA is training in ur- Ceasefire is dealing with ban warfare and stands for Fighting In Built Up Areas. In the British Army it is known as Fish & Chips. the situation. Fighting In Someone’s House & Causing Havoc In Hipe TV brings you videos ranging from actuality to humour and every- People’s Streets. thing in between. Interviews, mini-documentaries and much more. Check out Hipe TV and remember to like, comment, share and subscribe. 00 3 Famous Figures 38 Alvin York The most decorated pacifist of World War I. Quiz 41 Nicknames Editor’s PUBLISHER The military loves nicknames and slang. Here are a few questions about nicknames. See if you know the Sitrep Hipe Media answers. Page 38 EDITOR Matt Tennyson Forged in Battle Page 41 42 Boer Commandos CONTRIBUTORS The Boer Commandos, or Kommandos, were fierce- Peter Chapman, Raymond ext month will be the those stories are told soon, they ly independent farmers who had spent most of their Fletcher, Ryan Murphy, Matt 12th edition of Mili- will never be heard and remem- working lives in the saddle, they were skilled hunt- O’Brien, Matt Tennyson. Ntary Despatches. That bered. ers and expert marksmen. Something that the British means we’re nearly a year old. In other words, it’s about time Military Despatches is pub- were to learn the hard way. No wonder I need a drink. that you told those stories. lished on-line every month. I love reading about personal I must say that I am looking The articles used in Military Battlefield accounts of people that fought forward to our trip to Kimber- Despatches are copyrighted in wars. Or finding out about ley in June. I did a similar trip 46 The Battle of Spion Kop and may not be used without During the Second Boer War campaign to relieve La- unusual incidents. Which is in 2011 and it was a lot of fun. prior permission from the edi- Page 46 why I enjoyed the article “Un- The train trip especially dysmith, the British managed to snatch defeat from tor. the jaws of victory. der three flags” in this month’s brought back memories. Twice The views stated in this mag- issue. during my military service I azine do not necessary reflect I remember reading a book went from Johannesburg to the views of Hipe!, the editor, Reviews by George Robert Elford called Windhoek by train. the staff, or Hipe Media. Devil’s Guard. It was published We would actually catch the 50 Game Review - This War of Mine in 1971 and told the story of Transkaroo and then the coach Hipe! During war, there are no good or bad decisions; there is only survival. Matt O’ Brien tries to keep a group Hans Josef Wagemueller. was taken off at De Aar. You P.O. Box 31216, Tokai, 7966 survivors alive in his own inept way. Wagemueller fought in the would sit there from 22h00 in South Africa. Waffen-SS during World War the evening through until 17h00 II and afterwards joined the the following day. email 52 DVD Review - Blackadder Goes Forth French Foreign Legion and It took something like three [email protected] Set in the trenches of World War I, this is sarcastic fought in Indo-China. days to get to Windhoek and comedy at its best. The book is presented by the from there it was on by bus to author as nonfiction but con- Grootfontein and then further 53 Book Reivew - Operation Askari 1983/84 sidered to be untrue by military north. Both those train trip were An inside account of the operation. historians, and usually sold as a blast. fiction. Yet it does make you That’s about it for this month. think about how many war Some interesting articles com- The Lighter Side criminals escaped prosecution ing you way in the June edition, Page 54 by joining other armies. so look out for them. 54 Blackadder - Private Plane I’m sure that many of those Here is the full script from the Private Plane episode that fought in our own Border Until next month. from Black Adder Goes Forth War have stories to tell. The sad thing is that none of us are getting any younger and unless Matt 4 5 lead to the Battle of Prohorov- Top Ten ka, one of the largest tank bat- tles in military history. On 3 August the Soviets began their second phase of the counter-at- 10 Military blunders tack, Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev. of World War II As if this was not enough, Ten military operations of World War II that had a major impact on the on the night of 9/10 July 1943 final outcome of the war. the Allies launched Operation Husky – the invasion of Sici- ly. Hitler was forced to divert here is little doubt that Philippine Liberation, 1944 ippines commenced with am- troops training in France to World War II was the While this ended in a victo- phibious landings on the east- meet the Allied threats in the Tgreatest conflict in mod- ry for the Americans, many ern Philippine island of Leyte Mediterranean, rather than use ern history and one that contin- consider it an unnecessary op- on October 20, 1944. United them as a strategic reserve for ues to impact our world to this eration that may have extend- States and Philippine Common- the Eastern Front. Hitler then day. It is a conflict filled with ed the war by months. After wealth military forces were pro- cancelled the offensive at Kursk “what ifs…”. gressing in liberating territory TOLD YOU I’D BE BACK: General McArthur wades ashore on being kicked out of the Philip- his return to the Philippines. after only a week, in part to di- What if Germany or Japan pines two years earlier, General and islands when the Japanese vert forces to Italy, resulting in had won the war? What if Ger- Douglas McArthur was keen to forces in the Philippines were at a huge disadvantage in terms Many German generals ar- a reduction of German strength many had developed an atomic get back. He convinced Ameri- ordered to surrender by Tokyo of numbers. They had 80,900 gued strongly against the oper- on the Eastern Front. bomb? What if the Invasion of can President Franklin D. Roo- on August 15, 1945, after the men, 2,928 tanks, and 9,966 ation, saying that the attack was During Operation Citadel the Normandy had failed? What if sevelt that he may lose re-elec- dropping of the atomic bombs guns and mortars. The Germans pointless. Germans suffered 54,182 casu- B had happened instead of A? tion in 1944 if he didn’t liberate on mainland Japan and the So- also delayed the offensive while On 10 May 1943, General alties. Between 250 and 300 The world today could have the island chain that McArthur viet invasion of Manchuria. they tried to build up their forc- Heinz Guderian asked Hitler, tanks and assault guns were de- looked very different.