Military Despatches Vol 15 September 2018 Game changers Military innovations that changed the face of war Surprise package The dangers of booby traps Utrinque Paratus The British Parachute Regiment Dien Bien Phu France’s other Waterloo The ‘Red’ Napoleon Võ Nguyên Giáp For the military enthusiast CONTENTS September 2018 Page 30 Click on any video below to view How much do you know about movie theme songs? Take our quiz and find out. Hipe’s Wouter de The old South African Goede interviews former Defence Force used 28’s gang boss David a mixture of English, Williams. Afrikaans, slang and Head-to-Head techno-speak that few outside the military WW II Weapons & equipment could hope to under- 28 stand. Some of the terms Features were humorous, some Sea Cadets mid-year camp were clever, while others 6 During the mid-year school were downright crude. Ten military achievements holidays, the Sea Cadets held a Ten military achievements that camp at TS Woltemade in Cape changed the face of war. Town. Two of those that attend- Part of Hipe’s “On the ed the camp tell of their experi- couch” series, this is an 12 ence. interview with one of Winning the booby prize 18 Quiz author Herman Charles In a war zone anything could Rank Structure - SANDF Bosman’s most famous be booby trapped and through- This month we look at the 27 characters, Oom Schalk out history these sneak devices South African National De- Who am I? Lourens. Hipe spent time in have been employed with great fence Force. A taxi driver was shot success. This month we give you a close- dead in an ongoing Hanover Park, an area 24 up look at 15 famous military plagued with gang war between rival taxi 16 From the Delta to the DMZ figures, and you tell us who violence, to view first- they are. organisations. A matter of survival With a long fascination about hand how Project the Vietnam War, Ryan Mur- Ceasefire is dealing with This month we continue look- ing at methods of obtaining wa- phy finally gets to visit the the situation. ter. country and explore the history Hipe TV brings you videos ranging from actuality to humour and every- of the War. Good morning Viet- thing in between. Interviews, mini-documentaries and much more. nam. Check out Hipe TV and remember to like, comment, share and subscribe. 00 3 CONTENTS Page 54 Editor’s PUBLISHER Sitrep Hipe Media EDITOR Matt Tennyson PHOTOGRAPHER Regine Lord This month in military history ugust is a bit of a the magazine and will try and strange month for me. do a few articles for it. Just CONTRIBUTORS ALet me explain. one thing though. It’s time you Janine, Cassidy, Paul J. Els, I was born in August, as was dragged yourself kicking and Raymond Fletcher, AB Ashwin both my wife (14 years and four screaming out of the 70s and Gordon, Ryan Murphy, Matt Famous Figures Battlefield days after me) and my brother updated the layout of the maga- O’Brien, AB Peter Taylor, Matt Book Review (one year and eight days after zine.” Tennyson. me). So it should be a month of Maybe she’s right. So this 36 46 53 celebration. Not so fast. month there is a slightly differ- Military Despatches is pub- Võ Nguyên Giáp Dien Bien Phu Paratus Magazine My wife’s mother passed ent look to the mag. Nothing lished on-line every month. With no formal military train- In 1815 the French, under Na- Now you can own all 282 issues away in August. As did my fa- too drastic however. I still feel The articles used in Military ing, this history teacher would poleon, were defeated by the of Paratus magazine in digital ther, mother and brother. Al- any magazine (printed or on- Despatches are copyrighted go on to become one of the Duke of Wellington at Water- format. though obviously not all at the line) should be clean and easy and may not be used without greatest military strategists of loo. In 1954 the French once same time. to read. prior permission from the edi- the 20th century. again met their Waterloo. This Front Cover So while I can look forward Last month we launched a tor. time they were defeated by the to celebrating a birthday in Au- new section called “This month Members of the 2nd Foreign The views stated in this mag- Forged in battle Viet Minh at a place named gust, I am also very aware that in military history”. From the azine do not necessary reflect Dien Bien Phu. Parachute Regiment (2e Régi- my entire family chose August response I’ve received, it seems the views of Hipe!, the editor, 42 ment étranger de parachutistes, as the month to clock out. to have gone down fairly well. the staff, or Hipe Media. Gaming 2e REP) in Afghanistan. So August makes me a bit So we’ll continue this until all The Parachute Regiment nervous. Especially if I follow twelve months have been cov- Hipe! Formed more than 78 years ago 50 what seems to be the family tra- ered. P.O. Box 31216, Tokai, 7966 and colloquially known as the World of Guns: Gun Disassembly Paras, the Parachute Regiment dition. I always breathe a sigh November will see the cente- South Africa. Assemble, disassemble, operate is regarded as one of the most of relief when the calendar says nary of the signing of the Armi- and learn about firearms. And elite units in the world. And 1 September. stice in 1918. So I’m thinking email the best part of it is that this they have the battle honours to I received an e-mail from an of doing an entire issue dedicat- [email protected] game is free of charge. old friend and colleague recent- ed just to World War I. It will be prove it. ly. We spend a good few years a one-off thing because I doubt Back Issues Movie Review working in strange and exotic whether I’ll still be around in To view any back issues of locations around Africa and the another 100 years. Then again, Military Despatches, go to 52 rest of the world. neither will you. www.hipe.co.za or click here. Platoon She had an interesting com- Until next month. One of the better Vietnam mov- ment to make about the maga- ies available. zine. “Hey Matt. Really enjoying Matt 4 5 Top Ten Top Ten The sarissa-bearing phalanx and capable of long voyages. At first cannons were immo- would usually march to battle By 1200 AD this type of ship bile and it took time before the 10 Military Achievements in open formation to facilitate was used by militaries through- development of the two-wheel Ten military innovations that changed the face of warfare. movement. Before the charge, out Northern Europe. The gun carriage. it would tighten its files to close skeid, which means ‘that which This development led to the formation or even compact for- cuts through water, were larger formation of a new service arfare has been allowed the construction of millennium BC, making these mation. warships, consisting of more within the military and the artil- around for as long light, horse-drawn chariots was weapon systems the early foun- Their tight formation meant than 30 rowing benches. lery joined the ranks of the cav- as recorded history. the spoked wheel. The earliest dation for cavalry. W that the phalanx created a wall The technology of the sailing alry and the infantry. And those involved in wars spoke-wheeled chariots date to of spears that were so long that warship developed from 1775 The cannon was a shock have always been on the look- around 2000 BC. 9. The Sarissa there were five rows of them to 1862 and required little ex- weapon that was usually used out for weapons or innovations The chariot, with a driver and It was Philip II of Macedon, projecting in front of the front tensive research and there were in mass and its placement was that would give them the edge an archer armed with a compos- father of Alexander the Great, rank of men. Even if an enemy few new developments. Sails, critical. over the enemy. ite bow, revolutionised warfare that introduced the sarissa, a managed to get past the first ropes and guns would eventu- A volley of cannon fire at In this month’s ‘Top Ten’ we after 1700 BC. long spear or pike about 4-6 row, there were still four more ally become the main compo- look at ten military innova- A common tactic was for a metres in length. rows to stop him. nents of this military weapon tions that changed the face of line of chariots to approach the Made from tough and resil- The Macedonian phalanx was system, and timber the most warfare. Ten achievements that enemy until they were within ar- ient cornel wood, the sarissa considered invulnerable from basic and vital compo- were game changers. chery range. The archers would was a heavy spear, weighing in the front, except against anoth- nent. Timber was avail- then fire volleys of arrows at the region of 5,5 to 6,5 kg. er such phalanx. The only way able in abundance in 10. The Chariot them. If the infantry charged, It had a sharp iron head it was ever generally defeated most countries. The two-wheeled, horse the chariots could quickly turn shaped like a leaf and a bronze was by breaking its formation drawn chariot was one of the and retreat, with the archers butt-spike that would allow it or outflanking it.