- Agincourt600 – Commemorating 600 years since the Battle of Agincourt
- The Charge of the Light Brigade, 1854
- Battle of Leyte Gulf -- Wikipedia
Posted on 10/25/2015 6:51:24 PM PDT by harpygoddess
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt (wiki) in 1415, when the English under King Henry V defeated the French on St. Crispin's Day (25 October) of that year. Henry (1387-1422) followed his father King Henry IV to the throne in 1413 and two years later announced his claim to the French throne and rekindled the Hundred Years War by invading Normandy.
This is also the anniversary of the "the charge of the Light Brigade" (wiki) at the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854. Although of relatively little importance in the larger context of the Crimean War, Balaclava has emerged as its most famous encounter because of Tennyson's poem, which immortalizes the brave, but foolhardy, British light cavalry assault on massed Russian guns and infantry at the end of a shallow valley near Sevastapol. Of the 673 men who started out, 118 were killed outright, and only 195 remained on horseback at the end of the encounter.
And finally, today is the anniversary of the largest naval encounter of World War II in the Pacific, the Battle of Leyte Gulf (wiki) (which actually lasted from 23 to 26 October 1944), in which the U.S. Third and Seventh Fleets decisively defeated the Japanese Combined Fleet after the latter sortied in an attempt to destroy the forces supporting the ongoing Allied invasion of the Philippine Islands. The U.S. victory at Leyte Gulf essentially destroyed the Japanese Navy as a fighting force, and its remnants posed little threat for the remaining months of the war.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaviper.blogspot.com ...
Kenneth Branagh’s rendition of the St Crispian speech always gives me goosebumps.
Today is also the anniversary of the invasion of Grenada in 1983, the turning point of the Cold War. Grenada was the first Communist country to be liberated during the war as a result of military action.
The Soviet Union appeared to have reached the apogee of its power earlier in the year when a pro-Soviet government took power in Suriname. However, the liberation of Grenada was followed by the installation of Pershing II missiles in Europe, and the the balance of power began to shift in favor of the West.
"Zuikaku" means Soaring Crane.
Also, if you ever get to the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas (the home of Admiral Nimitz), there is a great animated display of part of the battle called "Crossing the T".
Gerald Ford (noted by the MSM as a clumsy oaf) was thrown onto a slippery slope and appeared to be on the way overboard in that gale. He saved himself by an athletic feat which presaged his later renown an All-American college lineman.
After Leyte Halsey should have been removed. His job was to protect the Leyte landings and he abandoned his post in search of personal glory
Between that and sailing into two typhoons he got a lot of people killed for no good reason
As to Balaclava having stood there where the charge finished up Cardigan was an idiot
“As we consider the above we must also acknowledge that Gallipoli was a planned attack that went awry and Churchill, whose career was in tatters in the aftermath, slinked away in humiliation. He salvaged his career, which he believed to be over, by his actions at the front lines of WWI.”
According to William Manchester, Churchill proposed attacking Gallipoli early in the war, before it was garrisoned. He was overruled.
Much later, after Gallipoli was garrisoned, Churchill’s political enemies resurrected the plan, this time overrode Churchill’s objections, then blamed the predictable disaster on him.
He didn’t “slink.” He and the human race were betrayed by British politicians. I seem to remember that Neville Chamberlain’s father was involved, but my memory isn’t very good.
People like that cause a great deal of the world’s misery.
“the parallel between “The Charge of The Light Brigade” and the Battle of Leyte Gulf”
There are also parallels with Balaclava and Little Big Horn. Both units charged heavy enemy strength at the ends of valleys—well, a coulee is not strictly speaking a valley, but they are topographically similar—the problem was caused by extreme crap-headedness on the part of commander(s), and by a wild coincidence both Cardigan’s cavalry and Custer’s used the same music—”Gary Owen.”
Very interesting...didn’t know that!
I also compare Taffy 3's situation to that of Chamberlain at Gettysburg when he realized he was running out of ammunition. Can't retreat. Can't stay here and be shot to pieces. Only thing to do is charge.
Is it St. Crispin's Day already!
You plan all year and then it slips right by.
Maybe a poor word choice.
I should have said: "he was demoted, then resigned his position, and volunteered to fight for the infantry in hopes of resurrecting his career, which he believed to have ended."
Mind you, I have a high level of respect, over all, for Churchill, but Gallipoli was not a success for him.
Great book!
We remember.
“Mind you, I have a high level of respect, over all, for Churchill, but Gallipoli was not a success for him.”
Perhaps I did not express myself with adequate clarity.
He *opposed* the attack on Gallipoli, very strenuously.
Yet he was the fall guy. So his opposition did not help in the political intrigue of the aftermath following the disaster.
“Yet he was the fall guy. So his opposition did not help in the political intrigue of the aftermath following the disaster.”
What could and should he have done?
All men make errors, wise men and great leaders overcome them. Churchill did just that.
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