List of author's articles

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise strike by the Japanese Imperial Navy against the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). Admiral Chuichi Nagum's six aircraft carriers sent two attack waves, numbering a total of 353 aircraft, against the US Pacific Fleet base in Pearl Harbor, Oahu.

In the spring of 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte was planning a major invasion of Egypt. The Directory felt a threat in his person, so he willingly gave permission for the campaign. The purpose of this action was to cut off England from its colonies and endanger the colonies in India.

Battle slogan of the Japanese 32nd Army defending Okinawa

Major General JR Hodge, Commander XXIV. Army Corps

German view of the battle for Sokolovo, deployed units and losses.

The first part of the series devoted to the 1st Field Battalion's fighting at Sokolov in March 1943 deals with the plight of Czechoslovak citizens who found themselves in Soviet labour camps. It is a little-known fact that around 80% of the 1st Field Battalion was made up of prisoners from the gulags.

After a fierce battle the Czechoslovaks lost Sokolovo, but during the following night they set out to recapture it...

After fierce fighting at Sokolov, the Czechoslovak battalion was threatened with encirclement. Therefore, he was ordered to retreat, during which, however, there was no shortage of dramatic moments...

The battle of Sokolov was over, but the recovery of the battalion was not a simple task...

Czechoslovak soldiers were ordinary people, as in all armies. There were heroes, there were cowards. Both the former and the latter are part of the complete history of the deployment of the 1st Field Battalion at Sokolov, and there is no point in saying that the latter category did not exist. Yet it cannot be overlooked that there were only a few cowards, while those who did not leave their battle stations were much, much more numerous...

The final part of the series about the first combat performance of the Czechoslovak troops on the Eastern Front deals with the issue of Czechoslovak soldiers captured in Sokolov.

The second part of the article about the combat performance of the Czechoslovak soldiers at Sokolov reveals the desperate situation of the Czechoslovak citizens in the gulags and the difficulties they had to face when they wanted to join the Czechoslovak troops.

The political behind the scenes of the establishment of the first Czechoslovak unit in the USSR.

Battalion construction, armament, training and intrigue.

The actual movement of the Czechoslovak unit to Kharkov, where it was to be deployed as part of the Voronezh Front, was not easy. The Soviet railways were quite damaged by the war, so the move to Valuiki station, from where the soldiers were to continue on foot, took three weeks.

The soldiers of the 1st Field Battalion went to the front as a fast unit, trained and designed to conduct offensive combat. After being assigned motor vehicles, they were to take part in the offensive actions that the Voronezh Front was conducting at the time. However, a turn in the situation at the front caused them to frantically start building defensive positions and waiting for German tanks...

Preparations for battle are at their peak, the Czechoslovaks are building defences, weapons are being deployed. The battle is approaching.

The memories of veterans draw the reader directly into the burning Sokolov...

The story of an interesting artillery weapon that almost revolutionized naval warfare.

History and description of one of the oldest revolver rounds in the world. The cartridge is still being manufactured, and some time ago it was even started by the Sellier & Bellot domestic ammunition.

How to actually determine the effectiveness of a projectile? According to her energy or momentum? Or statistically, according to the results in real conflicts? The question remains whether something like this can be objectively determined at all ...

Why magic bullet? Because the demands that some authors place on defensive ammunition seem to belong in fairy tales. Is there really ammunition that would knock a person out on the spot?
At the end of the series, we will try to find the answer to whether it is possible to define the best defensive charge in some way ...

It was one of the most successful weapons of its time. During the Civil War, the famous General Robert E. Lee also had it by his side. After the war, Wild Bill Hickok, the most famous gunslinger in the West, wore it practically throughout his career. It was a well-balanced revolver, accurate and reliable. It was one of the weapons that helped create the legend of Colt weapons.

In the context of the war in Ukraine, it is clear to see the danger that ballistic missiles pose to cities. These do not have to be expensive weapons. The article describes a ballistic missile of Chinese origin, "recycled" from an originally medium-range anti-aircraft missile.

The biography of a little-known WWI ace, a man who served nearly a year and a half in the elite fighter unit Jasta 11, managed to survive all of its campaigns and many of his more famous comrades, but still did not escape his fate as an aviator in the end.

WWI fighter ace

Leutnant Friedrich Theodor Noltenius was a German flying ace during the First World War, with a total of 21 official victories. From July 1914 to July 1917, he served with distinction as an artilleryman. He transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte and became a fighter pilot. After his aerial combat career began with a horrifying incident, Noltenius began shooting down enemy observation balloons and airplanes on 10 August 1918. His battle claims were sometimes unsuccessfully disputed with other pilots, including his commanding officers. Despite the resulting transfers between units, Noltenius continued his success, being credited with his 21st victory on 4 November 1918. Only the war's end a week later barred him from receiving Germany's highest award for valor, the Pour le Mérite.

The second most successful German air ace of the World War I, air showman and finally one of the leaders of the Second World War Luftwaffe. Ernst Udet managed to do all this during his turbulent life.

Anyone interested in World War I aviation will sooner or later come across the name of Hans von Hippel. However, this man was not famous for being a fighter ace, but a conspicuous marking of his aircraft.

French naval officer, captain of the ship Rédoutable at the Battle of Trafalgar.

John Allen Hilger was a United States Air Force officer and deputy commander of the Doolittle Raid of Japan during World War II.

During the First World War, observation balloons were among the prized reconnaissance assets. They were very difficult to hit with anti-aircraft guns. Ordinary machine gun rounds from aircraft would have required the airmen to fire hundreds of rounds before enough carrier gas escaped from the balloon. That's why the so-called "aerial torpedoes," or the first air-to-air missiles, appeared on the front to blow the balloons out of the sky.

The M-2 complex was constructed on the basis of the ground PLRK S-75, then widely used in the state air defense. However, the original S-75 was completed according to the requirements of the Navy.

Biography of one of the leading aces of the Spanish Civil War.

British fighter ace of World War I and witness of the shooting down of Manfred von Richthofen.

Nationalist fighter ace of the Spanish civil war and later general of the Spanish air force.

Admiral Nelson joined the Navy in the second half of the 18th century. The article approaches the issue of maritime strategy and tactics, a description of the division of ship classes and ship equipment and does not neglect the life of ordinary sailors in that era.

The biography of Luftwaffe fighter ace number four. A man who was born in Austria-Hungary, lived in Czechoslovakia and died fighting for Nazi Germany.

The story of one of the most powerful sailing ships of her time, including her terrible end. Admiral Nelson, commander of the victorious fleet, still sleeps his eternal dream in a coffin made from a piece of her mast.

Blue Max is a familiar nickname of the highest Prussian award for bravery from the period of the First World War. A whole generation of young Germans longed for this award, as it was a ticket to the highest floors of society and a guarantee of admiration for women from the best families. A film with this theme was also made in 1966, which was called - as usual - Blue Max. The article describes the history of one of the most beautiful decorations in the world.

Rédoutable was a French Navy Téméraire-class ship with 74 guns. She took part in the battles of the French Revolutionary Wars as part of the Brest Squadron, and served in the Caribbean in 1803. During the Battle of Trafalgar, her crew fought a heroic engagement with HMS Victory, killing Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson in the process. Rédoutable refused to surrender even when only about 20% of her crew remained combat capable. Her captain wrote of his men: "Never were so many displays of intrepidity, gallantry, and courage exhibited on board one ship; the whole history of our navy cannot boast what they did."

The story of the revolver, which was one of the few equipped with a selective cartridge ejection system - at the same time could throw away only fired cartridges and leave the unfired in the chambers.

The middle "sibling" of the family of anti-aircraft missile complexes now referred to as the "S-75 system". It was this type of PLRK that knocked the U-2 out of the sky over Sverdlovsk...

John Moses Browning, working for the Belgian armory Fabrique Nationale, began work on a new pistol in 1921 at the request of the French government. French requirements included the possibility of using a stock, adjustable sight up to 500 m, caliber 9 mm Luger, etc.

Who wouldn't be excited about the Wild West? Stories of fearless gunslingers, bravely walking towards a gang of bandits on a deserted street in the glow of the setting sun. Stories of determined sheriffs, skilful bank robbers, amazing super shooters, noble Indians and honest cowboys. As a kid, I loved these stories. However, as I grew up, I wanted to know more about the lives of these legendary heroes, and with astonishment I began to uncover the world of the real West - which was no less exciting, but still somewhat different.

How do bullets move in tissues and what are the mechanisms of their wounding effect?

What exactly is and what is not the stopping effect of projectiles?

What really excludes a person from a fight? Is it pain? If not, how fast will blood loss stop him? And what about that famous hydrostatic shock?

The 10th of May 1940 began the operation Paula - the German attack against the countries of western Europe. German troops burst in, inter alia, also on the territory of France. One of those who met the invaders with weapons in hand, were also Czechs and Slovaks. The successful deployment of the czechoslovak airmen in the battle of France is widely known. However, it is often unjustly forgotten to the members of the ground troops - and they intervened in the fighting, and they died. In the first part of the article do we learn about the creation, organization, composition and armament of the czechoslovak ground troops in France.

Czechoslovak divisional infantry in the battle of France took part in heavy retreat battles. Soldiers practically constantly marched, a place of rest dug trenches and fought. Several times narrowly escaped by retreating to the loops of the German encirclement. Despite the loss to maintain discipline and combat readiness. It is incredible what they had to those men at that time to endure and what they did.

Annex to the article about the combat performance of the Czechoslovak infantry units in the battle of France. The list is not limited only to soldiers who fell in the fight, but it also includes all the fallen and the dead czechoslovak troops by the end of 1940. Many died even before the outbreak of fighting, others on the contrary after their termination (the consequences of the war hardships it no doubt had their part), some even their own hands. Yet I don't want to separate. All of these men perished as a czechoslovak soldiers - and so they should also be remembered.

Politically motivated "research" has prevailed in wounding ballistics since the Vietnam War. He used the wrong methods to exaggerate the wounding effects, seriously confusing the current doctrine. Objective determination of the amount, type, and location of tissue damage, not the presumed velocity of the projectile, are key information that a combat surgeon should use to determine treatment. Martin L. Fackler, 1992

Ninety years ago, on April 1, 1918, the British Royal Flying Corps belonging to the ground forces, merged with the Royal Navy Air Service, creating the world's first independent air force, the famous Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force. However, this seemingly only administrative step fundamentally affected the lives of three men. At that time, air warfare raged in the sky and all three of them were fighters. Without this measure, the two would never have met with one unit, and one of them would not have saved the other's life. The third would not die, at least not under the circumstances I will tell you about now ...

It is strange how many people associate self-defense only with the rush of unarmed combat. However, relying only on bare hands in self-defense is, in my opinion, extremely dangerous and short-sighted. Nevertheless, in no case can the fight without a weapon be condemned - you will find out why this is the case in this article.

The article is a continuation of the previous part of the series, in which the possibilities of self-defence through cold strike weapons were described. Nevertheless, a situation may arise where, at the moment of attack, the defender is either not armed at all or does not have time to draw his own weapon. In spite of this, he does not have to face the attacker with his bare hands, there are enough weapons around...

The first part of the article deals with the self-defensive use of bladed weapons such as knives and daggers. This part focuses primarily on the key question of whether a knife is an appropriate weapon for self-defence and, in particular, on common myths surrounding this issue.

The second part of the article on self-defence by means of bladed weapons presents a short list of suitable weapons for this type of self-defence and the way of their use.

This article is not intended to teach anyone how to shoot or to help with gun selection. There is plenty of literature on this topic on the market, both Czech and foreign. Rather, the article emphasizes the most heady part of self-defense with short firearms - the reality of a real encounter.

Self-loading or self-tensioning revolver? Isn't that a bit of a contradiction? This article provides the answer to this question and an insight into the history of a remarkable design in the history of the development of firearms, constructed by an unadulterated hero, the holder of the highest British award, the Victoria Cross.

In 1927, the competition between several different teams for the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and the associated prize money of $25,000, which was a huge amount of money at the time, was at its peak. Different teams were betting on different types of aircraft, monoplanes, converted bombers, etc. A couple of Legion of Honor winners, Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli, bet on the Levasseur PL.8 "l'Oiseau blanc"...