Professor Sir James Mirrlees obituary

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/professor-sir-james-mirrlees-obituary-nvgv505sp

Sir James Mirrlees passing on his wisdom to young economists at St Petersburg State University in 2010

James Mirrlees’s first thought was that he was the victim of a prank. “My second thought was to check the [phone] call was genuine,” he said. Having ascertained that it was real, he was “full of glee” at sharing the Nobel prize in economics in 1996. “My subject has always been economics and human welfare,” explained the softly spoken Scot. “It is a delight to have been able to contribute to that field and to have it recognised.”The award was for Mirrlees’s work on “information asymmetry”, which is about making transactions with imperfect knowledge. “That just means not knowing as much as you would like,” he explained. Information asymmetry is where one party, the buyer or the seller, knows more about the goods or the service than the other. People selling their home know more about the house than a buyer; those seeking health insurance know more about their health than the insurer.Mirrlees studied the applications of information asymmetry, exploring why buyers and sellers failed to possess all the information they needed when making a purchase or a sale and the implications for any deal. In insurance, for example, high-risk customers such as smokers, the elderly or those living in difficult environments may be more likely to take out cover. This could raise premiums for all customers, forcing the healthy or those who live in safe environments to withdraw. The solution is to perform actuarial work, screen all customers and charge different premiums based on potential risks.Receiving the Nobel prize was not the greatest day of Mirrlees’s life. That had been in 1968, when, according to the man once described as a self-effacing academic’s academic, “I finally cracked the optimal tax problem . . . It came in a flash and was very satisfactory.” He had been investigating the links between levels of taxation and motivation to work and concluded that British tax rates could reasonably be higher, “particularly for middle-income earners”, adding: “It could become a disincentive, but you could use the revenue for health services, education and welfare.”

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Литовський стрілець, кінець XV — початок XVI ст.

Автори реконструкції: М. Відейко, А. Галушка, О. Ком’яхов

Близько 1500 р. цей тип піхотинця вже починав сприйматися як архаїчний, але на теренах Східної Європи він зберігався довше, ніж у більш розвинених західних країнах, в тому числі через те, що такій піхоті довелося протистояти іншому супротивнику — кінним лучникам Кримського ханату та Великого князівства Московського.

Основна зброя стрільця — арбалет (куша). Потужний композитний лук арбалета має основу з дерева (тис, ясен, горіх чи в’яз), до якої з одного боку прикріплені накладки з рогу, а з протилежного — з жил. Тятива зроблена із жил. Лук замотаний у водовідпорний матеріал (просмолену тканину чи шкіру). Більш потужні сталеві луки для арбалетів на той час уже почали з’являтися, але були набагато дорожчими. Ложе арбалета дерев’яне, із залізним стременом для зручності зведення тятиви. Тятива натягується металевим важелем (кранекеном, «козячою ногою»), що лежить на траві перед стрільцем. Короткі стріли-болти зберігаються у шкіряному сагайдаку (тулі), що висить на правому боці стрільця.

Стрілець прикривається від ворожих стріл щитом-павезою на дерев’яній підпорці. Такі щити були масово поширені в піхотинців у всій Європі у попередні кілька століть. Висота павез могла бути різною, переважно 1—1,5 м. У цього стрільця вона ближча до верхньої межі. Павези робилися із дерева (часом вони були на диво легкими) та вкривалися шкірою. На шкірі часто робили яскраві малюнки геральдичного чи релігійного змісту. На цій павезі зображений Святий Юрій-змієборець та герб міста Києва (рука з кушею — зображення взято з герба Києва у гербовнику Конрада Ґрюненберґа 1480 р.).

На лівому боці у стрільця висить короткий меч-катцбальгер із характерною гардою у вигляді літери S. Катцбальгери набули особливої популярності в німецьких ландскнехтів, що саме тоді з’явилися у державах Священної Римської Імперії. Довжина такого меча була від 70 до 85 см, вага 1,5—1,8 кг. Стрілець міг ним битися, якщо ворог наближався впритул.

Як і меч, захисний обладунок стрільця показує «останні тренди» тогочасної військової моди. На голові шолом-салед німецької роботи, за зразок для якого експонат із лондонської Колекції Воллеса, датований 1500 роком. Груди й живіт захищає металева кіраса, закріплена хрест-навхрест ремінцями на спині. Кірасу доповнює захисний доспіх для рук, що також кріпиться ремінцями. Такі недорогі захисні комплекти (зразком для малюнка послужив комплект із Королівського музею зброї у Лідсі) щойно поширилися на німецьких землях. Стрілець одягнутий у сіру вовняну куртку, міцні лляні брунатні штани та шкіряні черевики на зав’язках — поширений робочий одяг того часу.

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Битва під Оршею 8 вересня 1514 року

Починаючи з останніх років XV століття Московське князівство узяло курс на захоплення руських земель, що знаходилися під владою Великого князівства Литовського. Коли у березні 1503 року було укладено перемир'я між Литвою та Московською державою, то під владу Москви перейшов величезний простір чернігово-сіверських земель на лівому березі Дніпра, що були захоплені московськими військами під час військових дій. До цього призвела страшна поразка литовського війська над рікою Вєдрошею під Дорогобужем у 1500 році: все військо Великого Князівства було знищено, а його командувач гетьман литовський князь Костянтин Острозький попав у полон.

Головною метою московського князевя Василя ІІІ був Смоленськ, який Литві вдалося утримати. Нова війна 1508 року виявилася невдалою для Москви. Так само невдалим виявився й початок нової війни, що розгорілася у 1512 році. Великий князь Василь розірвав мирну угоду під тим приводом, що набіг кримських татар на Московську державу був спровокований королем Сигизмундом.  Смоленськ відбив дві московські облоги протягом 1512 та 1513 років. Великий князь Литовський і король Польський Сигизмунд І вирішив, що місто може відбити будь-який натиск східного ворога, й не посилив його залогу. Розплата не забарилася. Новий московський похід, який очолив особисто Василь ІІІ, врахував попередні невдачі: 30 липня 1514 року оборонці здалися великому князеві Василю, і Смоленськ було майже на сто років взято до Московської держави. Проти Великого Князівства і Польщі зібразася сильна коаліція сусідів: Священна Римська імперія, Тевтонський орден і Данія вичікували слушного моменту, щоб також отримати частину володінь Сигизмунда.

Велике московське військо (два корпуси під проводом воєвод Івана Челяднина та Михайла Голиці) рушило вглиб Литви. Польські джерела пишуть про 80-тисячну силу, але дослідники вважають це перебільшенням. З іншого боку, в останні роки російські історики стали давати оцінку московського війська лише в 12-15 тисяч, при тому, що польсько-литовське військо оцінюване в 16-18 тисяч. На думку автора, така занижена оцінка сил Москви визвана методологічними похибками російських дослідників. Більш вірогідним є припущення, що польсько-литовське військо мало силу до 25 тисяч, а його супротивник – від 35 до 40 тисяч.

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Піхотинець князя Сигізмунда Корибутовича у битві під Вількомиром, 1434 р.

Автори реконструкції: М. Відейко, А.Галушка, О. Ком’яхов

Піхота того періоду складалася з вояків, озброєних по-різному; але працювали вони разом, однією командою, підтримуючи один одного. До такої команди входили алебардисти, списоносці, стрільці-арбалетники та щитоносці-павезники. На той час чи не найдосвіченішими піхотинцями Центрально-Східної Європи були чеські гусити, що взяли участь у нещасливій для Русі битві під Вількомиром у війську князя Сигізмунда Корибутовича; останній протягом попередніх півтора десятиліть брав активну участь у подіях у Чехії.

Основна зброя цього піхотинця — алебарда раннього типу (за зразок взято одну з алебард із Королівського музею зброї у Лідсі, датовану XV ст.).

Її бойова частина — комбінація прямокутного широкого леза бойової сокири, гостряка списа та гака — кувалася зі звичайного заліза; але її рубальна грань гартувалася так, щоб мати необхідну міцність для розрубування обладунку супротивника. Бойова частина насаджувалася вушком на держак приблизно двометрової довжини. Вушко охоплювало держак з двох боків довгими залізними смугами, за допомогою яких бойова частина надійно закріплювалася на держаку. Ці ж смуги запобігали спробам ворога перерубати держак. Вага алебарди могла коливатися від 2,5 до 5 кг; умілий удар нею залишав страшні рани і міг пробити плитовий обладунок.

Окрім алебарди, вояк має зброю ближнього бою — корд, тобто короткий (до 80 см) меч вагою близько 1 кг. Такі мечі були поширені в цей період серед нижчих верств населення. За модель на малюнку взято німецький корд XV ст. також із Королівського музею зброї у Лідсі. Корд у шкіряних піхвах — на боці вояка.

Голова вояка захищена залізним шолом-капаліном, що був популярним у Європі протягом кількох століть (за зразок служив експонат лондонської Збірки Воллеса). Шолом має форму капелюха із крисами; він носився поверх стьобаного підшоломника (що служив додатковим захистом голови) та іноді також (як у цього вояка) — кольчужного каптура.

Корпус вояка захищає бригандина (шкіряна куртка, підшита пластинами заліза — за зразком з Королівського музею зброї у Лідсі, датованим XV ст.) та стьобана куртка. На ногах шкіряні черевики на зав’язках та полотняні ногавиці, зшиті між собою так, що утворювалися примітивні штани (така мода лише щойно почала поширюватися в Європі).

This Week in History - Hitler's assault on Poland (1 September 1939)

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Border clashes, sabotage carried out by German guerrilla units, and high-altitude reconnaissance flights by the Luftwaffe had put a strain on German-Polish relations. Despite the German threat, only 65% of the Polish army was mobilized; France and England pressured Poland not to commit to what they feared would be seen as an act of provocation. German Panzers reached Warsaw in a week. Russia invaded on 17 September, intervening 'to protect its fraternal Byelorussian and Ukrainian population' and acting under secret terms of a recently signed non-aggression pact with Germany. The last Polish resistance was crushed early in October and the country was partitioned.

For the German Army this campaign was a necessary trial of new technology, organization and training, and above all of a new tactical doctrine of mechanized, combined arms warfare. The significance of this in the campaign's rapid success was generally underrated at the time, as was the effectiveness of the Polish Army's gallant but hopeless resistance. However, the German achievement was fully appreciated by a few more perceptive observers, amongst whom the term 'Blitzkrieg' was coined. This became established currency a few months later as the doctrine, improved by lessons learned in Poland, was applied so devastatingly in the invasions of the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

100 Years Ago

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/french-dash-to-the-somme-vclkhwhf8

AUGUST 30, 1918

French dash to the Somme

The Germans are retreating as fast as they dare, as fast, that is, as they can without retreat degenerating into a rout. They are covering the same ground as that over which they retired in the spring of 1917 about as quickly as they did then, but with this great difference — that this time the Allies are close on their heels.

The towns and villages that fall one by one into the hands of the advancing troops are a sorry sight. They are battered out of all recognition. Most of them I know, some of them well. When I went to Moreuil and Montdidier I simply did not recognize them. I could not place any of the houses and not many of the streets I had known. Looked at from the west, Montdidier is a particularly gruesome spectacle. It is not only that the insides of the houses are exposed. The very foundations of the town are laid bare. They seem to have been turned inside out, and upside down. It is like looking at a grave that has been burst open and violated. The naked cliff of sandstone on which it stands is thrown open to view instead of being hidden by a clustering mass of houses, and cliff and fallen stonework form a formless jumble of chaos and destruction which in no way suggests that it could ever have been the handiwork of man.

Roye, fortunately, is not so bad. Some of the streets have been blown up by mines; the church and a certain number of houses have been destroyed by shells, but it still looks like a town, and there are still houses standing, on the walls of which the Germans have left characteristic inscriptions as a trace of their occupation. The brick ramparts overhanging the Avre facing west across the Santerre Plateau have suffered particularly badly, but they are picturesque in their ruin. It is not much consolation to reflect that in the case of these recently destroyed places the ruin is mostly the result of the fair wear and tear of war. But it is in a way comforting to feel that the Germans must by now be bitterly regretting the wantonness with which they blotted out of existence with fire and dynamite during their last retreat the towns and villages of behind their present line. They are in something the same plight as the ancient wanderers in the wilderness, whose soul fainted within them because they found no city to dwell in. And it is their own doing.

Десять книжок, що...

Колись розмістив це на іншій площадці, але залюбки повторю

1. Енеїда, Іван Котляревський – я був, здається, у першому класі, коли батько мені дав цю книжку й сказав, що у Давній Греції учнів вчили, даючи їм завдання вивчити напам’ять Іліаду й Одісею Гомера, і що він не вимагає в мене вивчити напам’ять Енеїду, але хотів би, щоб я її прочитав. Я її прочитав, і перечитував – як на мій тоді юний вік, ні те, що це вірші, ні мова, якою вони були написані, не злякали мене. Мова не здавалася якоюсь відмінною від тої, якою розмовляли в нас вдома, тож до теревенів про австроугорський генштаб я завжди ставився як до патякання ідіотів. Видання в нас було простеньке, не розкішне з ілюстраціями Базилевича, але таке було у моєї тьоті, так що я мав можливість не раз ним помилуватися. Взагалі це видання, як на мене, зробило більше для створення умов для незалежності України ніж мало що до Чорнобильської катастрофи

2. Книга будущих командиров, А.Митяев – «моє» було саме перше видання, ще без усяких репродукцій не дуже гарних картин, просто із рисунками. Про Другу світову там була лише глава про Сталінград, все інше додали вже в наступних перевиданнях. Як зараз зрозуміло, багато в чому це був переказ для дитячої аудиторії тритомника з історії воєнного мистецтва Строкова (і частково Разіна), якщо казати про освітлення подій до більшовицького перевороту. При всіх її, як я зараз розумію, недоліках і неточностях, вона багато зробила для формування мого інтересу до воєнної історії

3. Тореадори з Васюківки, Всеволод Нестайко – сперше я взяв її в бібліотеці, не знаючи особливо, що воно за таке, просто книга. Ну власне, тоді вона була досить новою книгою. Вже пізніше прийшло усвідомлення, що по-перше, в початковій школі ми ходили в Театр Юного Глядача (поряд зі школою) на виставу по першій частині цієї чудової книжки (Пригоди Робінзона Кукурузо), а крім того, у дитячому журналі Барвінок я читав одну главу із останньої частини. Словом, ця книга малює світ мого раннього дитинства, кінець 60-х, десь як я їх і пам’ятаю. Плюс гарний гумор, плюс пригоди – відмінне читання. Не знаю, одначе, чи мої хлопці прочитають книжку, бо їм надто багато треба пояснювати буде, ті реалії, які «само собою» для мого покоління, для них так само екзотичні, як реалії кнгижки ну хоч про стародавній Рим...

This Week in History - Second Manassas (25-31 August 1862)

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Since 'Jeb' Stuart's raid behind the Union lines on 22-3 August there had been skirmishes and manoeuvring along the Rappahannock and, in the early hours of 25 August, Robert E Lee had launched 'Stonewall' Jackson on a bold, 56-mile flanking march. By midnight on August 26 Stuart had captured Manassas Junction and by morning most of the rest of Jackson's force were feasting on the massive Union supply depot there and destroying what they couldn't carry away. Jackson then withdrew to what he himself described as a 'commanding position' by the village of Groveton, waiting for Lee and James Longstreet to link up with him, having followed the route he had taken. He was also ready for the full Union response to his presence in what had been their rear. The expected clash took place on August 28, a fierce prelude to the main battle, in which the Stonewall Brigade reinforced their reputation and the Iron Brigade first established theirs.

On August 29 Jackson's corps was positioned in a strong defensive line along the workings of an unfinished railroad. Fierce attacks were met with equally fierce defence and the Confederates were pushed back but not broken. In one of the several spectacular misjudgements that lost him this campaign and his command, the Union General John Pope wrote a despatch early the next morning claiming victory in a 'terrific battle … which lasted with continuous fury from daylight until dark, by which time the enemy was driven from the field, which we now occupy.' In fact, with Lee and Longstreet now on the scene and placing a fresh corps most threateningly on his left flank, it was Pope who was to be driven from the field on 30 August.

The first day's fighting had been inconclusive although Pope thought he had the Confederates beaten. However, Lee had brilliantly executed his strategy of forcing a confrontation at a place of his choosing with the Army of Virginia, before it could be reinforced and lengthen the odds against him to two-to-one. He had also fulfilled his purpose of drawing the war away from the Confederate capital and positioning himself to take it into Union territory. 

On the morning of the second day Lee had set a trap and the confident Pope blundered straight into it. Lee's line was now in the shape of a V, Jackson's corps along the unfinished railroad as before and Longstreet's corps angled off to its right. The final stage of the battle is described in the extract below.

До 79-тої річниці

До вищезазначеної річниці - розділ із книги, що вийде наступного місяця.

Гітлер дотримувався іншої думки. У листопаді того ж таки 1937 року він виголосив довгу помову перед керівництвом збройних сил Німеччини. Її зміст відомий із стенограми, що велася ад’ютантом Гітлера (за чиїм іменем цей документ отримав назву «меморандум Госсбаха»). Гітлер заявив, що його мета виходить за межі просто знесення Версальської угоди та повернення відтогрнутих у Версалі німецьких територій та колоній. Метою мало бути «збереження расової спільноти» (Volksmasse) та забезпечення її зросту. Для цього необхідно забезпечити «життєвий простір», Lebensraum, що неможливо без війни, бо «сила... є основою експансії», тим більше що було ясно, що цей простір реально отримати лише на сході, що лежить під владою більшовицького режиму. Міркування Гітлера не відповідали реальному ходу подій (він вважав, що з Британією Німеччині нема чого ділити, наприклад). Але Гітлер передбачав близьке поглинення Австрії та Чехословаччини, як і сталося. Військовий міністр генерал Бломберґ та командуючий сухопутними силами генерал Фріч висловили запокоєння такими планами, але на початку 1938 року вони обидва втратили всої посади через гучні скандали. Гітлер не став замінювати Бломберґа іншим військовиком, але сам став головнокомандувачем збройними силами Німеччини.

16 August 1819: Militia massacres protesters at ‘Peterloo’

Dominic Sandbrook explores this big day in history



When the people of Manchester awoke on Monday, 16 August 1819, it was already shaping up to be a fine, hot day. By mid-morning thousands of people were streaming past the mills and chimneys towards St Peter’s Field in the town centre. To the watching townsfolk they presented an extraordinary spectacle. Each local village had sent its own contingent, but far from being the disorderly rabble of press hysteria, they seemed remarkably well turned out. Many were women, dressed all in white. And everywhere were flags and banners, woven in bright silk. “No Corn Laws”, they read, “Annual Parliaments”, “Universal Suffrage”, “Vote by Ballot”. The only banner that survives today was carried by Thomas Redford of Middleton. “Liberty and Fraternity” read the message on one side, picked out in gold letters. “Unity and Strength” it read on the other.

100 Years Ago

AUGUST 16, 1918 

Cavalry against pill-boxes

One of the finest fights the Canadian cavalry have been in was on Sunday morning on the Amiens-Roye road, between Goyencourt and Andechy. Two giant pill-boxes of heavy steel and cement stand sentinel over the main road and two cross-roads. They held up our infantry during the first Somme advance, and although the concussion from our heavy shells killed most of the garrisons, the forts were not destroyed. After the advance they were strengthened, and used for defence in the March Allied retirement. A hasty attempt to blow them up was unsuccessful.

Now, they once more frowned on the attacking troops. A force of Canadian cavalry divided into small parties and spread over tracks which led towards the redoubts. The German outposts were surprised and killed, and there seemed a chance of gaining the position by surprise. The garrison’s attention was taken up by minor fights on either side, when suddenly a party of the Canadian cavalry charged down the main road to within 50 yards of the little forts, when they encountered barbed wire and were held up. They had considerable losses in men and horses from machine-gun fire. The mounted men galloped to shelter, but the troopers who had been dismounted, sheltered by their dead horses and what cover they could get, went on cutting wire. With a semblance of a path cut through, the cavalry commander, in conjunction with some whippet Tanks, launched another party. Guided by their unmounted comrades, the troops got through the first wire and were right on top of the positions. They fired point-blank into the little forts, and then swerved to the right into the shelter of a small wood. There were a considerable number of casualties, but the German garrisons, panic-stricken at the closeness of the horsemen and afraid of being cut off, fled out through the rear trenches. The gaining of the position meant everything to the British and French infantry. It was one of the hardest fights Canadian cavalry have been in during this tremendous battle.

The motor machine-gunners have a new mascot in a fine Dachshund bitch they took from a dugout where she refused to leave the body of her master, an officer. She is suffering from shell shock and whines at every explosion, but the unit means to bring her back to Canada.

The Allied advance, August-September 1918

The Allied advance, August-September 1918

This week's chapter examines the Battle of Bapaume continued, the fighting on the Oise, the Battle of the Scarpe, the Drocourt-Queant line breached, the French advance on the British right, development of the Allied plan, the American part in the Battle of St Mihiel, German views, aviation record

On the night of August 26-27, the Germans began to yield ground, as the German High Command felt that their troops could not continue in the positions held in front of Chaulnes, Roye .and Noyon. Roye was abandoned on the 26th and the Germans began to retire from both sides of the town on a front of about 12 miles

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301 рік тому

сталася битва під Белградом - найвідоміша перемога одного з найвидатніших європейських полководців початку 18 століття, принца Євгена Савойського. Пам'ятайте в "Швейку":

Prinz Eugenius, der edle Ritter,

wollt’ dem Kaiser wiedrum kriegen

Stadt und Festung Belegrad.

Er liess schlagen einen Brücken,

dass man kunnt’ hinüberrucken

mit der Armee wohl für die Stadt

Ks. Eugeniusz Sabaudzki na polu bitwy, mal. Jacob van Schuppen, 1718 r.

This Week in History - Bosworth 1485 (18-24 August)

Bosworth 1485 (18-24 August)

'Give me my battle-axe in my hand,
Set the crown of England on my head so high!
For by Him that shape both sea and land,
King of England this day I will die!'

("The Ballad of Bosworth Field", the work of an unnamed supporter of the Plantagenets
from northern England, written sometime during the ten years after the battle)

With the battle threatening to turn against him, Richard staked all on a heroic charge with Henry Tudor the objective. He personally killed Henry's standard bearer with his lance, then swept a second defender out of his saddle with a blow of his axe and was very close to his goal. But the momentum of the charge was spent and Richard with his household were gradually overwhelmed. After his horse, already wounded, became trapped in some marshy ground Richard fought on to die bravely on foot. The Tudor victory did not bring the Wars of the Roses to an immediate end. Following his coronation on 30 October, Henry had to deal with a number of real threats and challenges. The last military action took place in 1497 and the last serious plot was eliminated in 1499. The traditional image of Richard III as monstrous king was a Tudor creation motivated by the need to justify the illegitimacy of Henry VII's accession. In truth, Richard served his brother Edward IV and his country well both in peace and war; he was a good and brave soldier. Indeed he seems to have been no worse and was quite possibly a rather better man than his peers, whether friends or enemies.

Further reading

Campaign 66: Bosworth 1485 The Last Charge of the Plantagenets (extract below) is a detailed reconstruction of this pivotal battle and the events and actions immediately preceding it. To place Bosworth in the context of the whole war, Essential Histories 54: The Wars of the Roses 1455-1485 is a compact account of the entire dynastic struggle, which spanned nearly all of the second half of the 15th century as well as the background to the war, and the consequences. Campaign 120: Towton 1461 England's bloodiest battle is a study of the longest and bloodiest battle of the War of the Roses, and another crucial battle of the wars, Tewkesbury, will be covered in Campaign 131: Tewkesbury 1471 The last Yorkist victory to be published in October.

Men-at-Arms 145: The Wars of the Roses. It also surveys the arms and armour, livery and badges of the opposing sides. Warrior 35: English Medieval Knight 1400-1500, (extract below) by the same author and illustrator as Campaign 66, describes the life and experiences of the 15th-century knight from his training as a squire to his involvement in battles in England and France. It also closely examines his dress and weaponry and explores the social mechanisms that attached systems and great families to each other.

This Week in History - Napoleon launches assault on Smolensk (17 August 1812)

Napoleon launches assault on Smolensk (17 August)

Fresh from their decisive victory at Salamanca on 22 July, Wellington and his army made a triumphal entry to Madrid. One of his soldiers recalled 'deffening shouts of; "Vivi les Angoles, Vivi les Ilandos"'. 'The inhabitants testified their Joy,' wrote Captain Bragge. However, Private William Wheeler of the 51st complained, 'But amidst all this pleasure and happiness we were obliged to submit to a custom so unenglish that I cannot but feel disgust while I am writing. It was to be kissed by the men. What made it still worse, their breath was so highly seasoned with garlick, then their huge mustaches well stiffened with sweat, dust and snuff, it was like having a hair broom pushed into ones face that had been daubed in a dirty gutter.' Wellington was admitted to the Order of the Golden Fleece, given a large estate near Granada and appointed Generalissimo. He was surrounded by women wherever he went, causing an ensign in the Coldstreams to remark: 'Lady Wellington would be jealous if she were to hear of his proceedings. I never saw him in his carriage without two or three ladies.' After this high point came the failure to capture Burgos and a tough tactical withdrawal in terrible weather to Portugal, leaving the French once again in command of Spain. However, Wellington's successes of 1812 and the drain on French resources caused by Napoleon's activities to the east enabled him to go onto the offensive the following summer with excellent prospects of final victory. 

On the same day Napoleon was closing in on the city of Smolensk and on 17 August, he launched his assault on Smolensk just after midday. By 4.30pm, at the end of the afternoon's fighting, Marshall Ney had cleared the southern part of the city and was on the Dnieper. The Russians withdrew the next day but left a key ford unprotected, allowing Ney to cross and immediately harass them. On 19 August Ney engaged the Russian rearguard at Valutino. This turned into a major battle, which could have been decisive, if Junot and Murat had appreciated the opportunity to outflank Barclay, taken the initiative and fully committed their Corps. As it was, the Russians extracted themselves and fell back further east with some protection from the weather. They were to stand and fight next at Borodino on 7 September and on 14 September Napoleon had won his empty and fatal trophy, Moscow.

Sir VS Naipaul obituary

Nobel prizewinning author whose books posed profound questions about the postcolonial world

VS Naipaul in 2001, the year he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature

Did VS Naipaul set out to cause offence, or did it happen by accident? Few would take issue with the Nobel prizewinner’s immense talent as an author, yet he also succeeded in getting up the noses of almost everyone he encountered, becoming English literature’s greatest postcolonial writer and a pariah to the postcolonial literary world, who no doubt felt that he had taken on the values of the old colonial masters.

For many his best book was A House for Mr Biswas (1961), which tells the story of one man’s lifelong struggle to create meaning and permanence out of poverty and insignificance. He never made any secret of the fact that the story was based on the experience of his father and his conflict with a large clan of Hindu relations ranging from landowners to labourers.

Reginald ‘Titch’ Snowling - obituary

Gunner who was probably the shortest man to land on the D-Day beaches and later blew up two German tanks with one shell

Reginald ‘Titch’ Snowling with his medal last year

At 4ft 11in tall, Reginald “Titch” Snowling was almost certainly the smallest soldier to land with British forces in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and was also unique in knocking out two German Panther tanks with a single shot.

Afterwards Snowling said: “The tanks just blew up. When our Rifle Brigade went up in their half-tracks to have a look, there was nobody left alive. The officer in charge came back and asked, ‘Who fired that shot?’ And when told it was me said, ‘Make sure he gets a Military Medal.’ But I never got one.”

100 Years Ago

AUGUST 9, 1918

A brilliant success

Troubles are multiplying for the Germans. Today, with French cooperation, we launched the first offensive on a large scale this year, recalling the great attacks of the Somme, the battle of Arras, or that of Flanders. It was admirable in its organization and execution, taking the enemy completely by surprise.

The attack was made by the Fourth Army, under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson, in conjunction with French troops, both being under command of the British Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief. The front of attack was about 15 miles, of which British troops had charge of the northern 12 miles from near Mericourt to a point south of the River Luce and the Amiens-Roye road below Hangard, while the French extended the attack for another three miles to and across the River Avre. The time chosen was half-past 4 this morning.

It was an anxious night, for we had no idea whether the Germans had any warning of our plans. They took some prisoners in the fighting below Morlancourt two days ago, and it was possible that these men might have given some information away. From prisoners, indeed, we gathered that the Germans anticipated some sort of local operation hereabouts some time soon, but they had no inkling that the blow was to come so quickly, or that it was to be of anything like the shattering force with which it was delivered. The night passed well, therefore, and when the critical moment came there was no sign of apprehension on the enemy’s part. Then, out of the silence, it sounded to onlookers as if our barrage was as splendid and as heavy as any that the war has known. It lasted only for a few minutes before the attack started, but those few minutes were enough to flatten the enemy defences and to leave him stunned and naked. Our men as they went forward all seem to have had the same impression of the enemy being completely smothered, so that only scattered machine-guns here and there opposed our advance in the frontline positions, and these were easily accounted for either by Tanks or infantry with the help of smoke screens. Tanks joined in the attack everywhere, and did magnificent service. In little more than two hours we had heard of the capture of the whole tier of nearer villages.

AUGUST 10, 1918

The new allied offensive

The new Franco-British offensive under the command of Sir Douglas Haig on the Allied front before Amiens is one of the greatest and most gratifying surprises of the war. It surprised the British public just as much as the enemy for, with the exceptions of the battles of Messines and Cambrai, never has a secret been better kept. Most people have been speculating about the possibility of an early German attack in the neighbourhood of the Lys, and the whole country hailed with deep delight the news that on Thursday the British Fourth Army and the French First Army had struck swiftly and deeply astride the Somme, and between the Somme and the Avre.

From the outset the attack went forward at unusual speed. The new “whippet” tanks and squadrons of armoured cars greatly assisted the infantry in their rapid advance. No offensive in which the British Army has participated has made so much progress on the opening day. By nightfall Amiens was free from the danger of any recurrence of the bombardment which has wrought so much destruction. The advance of the French on the right has freed the main railway line to Paris from menace, and yesterday trains were once more running from Amiens to St Just. All the testimony tends to show that the rout of the Germans was complete, at any rate in the broad centre of the attack. By noon yesterday the count of prisoners had reached 17,000, 4,000 taken by the French and 13,000 by the British. The number of guns captured is estimated at between two and three hundred. This battle differs from any in which we have engaged, for tanks and cars, and even cavalry, are operating considerably in advance of the main fighting line. We know that the Germans have suffered one of the worst reverses since the war began. The prospects of effective retaliation on a great scale in the West this autumn are diminishing. For the moment the initiative has clearly passed to the Allies. The plans of Hindenburg and Ludendorff are more deranged than ever, and the outlook for the Allies was never more promising. We may add that though our total casualties are said to be light, last night’s aviation report showed that losses among our gallant young airmen are exceptionally heavy. Fifty of our machines are reported as “missing”.

The Times History of the War - The Battles of Amiens and Bapaume, August 1918

The Battles of Amiens and Bapaume, August 1918

This week's chapter examines the Battle of Amiens resumed, work of the cavalry and tanks, defensive tactics, Ludendorff's order, Humbert's attack towards Lassigny, Allies reach the line of 1917, King's visit to the Front, German damage to Amiens, Lassigny captured, enemy withdrawal on the Ancre, German comment on the fighting, British dispositions, opening of the Battle of Bapaume, progress of the attack, work in the air, fall of Albert, Thiepval ridge carried, air fighting in August.

At one point the French had some difficulty with a village which was heavily defended with machine-guns, many of which were in the upper stories, which held them up for a time. Five of the heavy tanks were brought up and proceeded to demolish the houses from which the fire came. In this way 10 houses were dealt with in succession

Jack Tredrea obituary

Commando who led a platoon of headhunters in Borneo, but did not get the message that the war had ended in August 1945

Jack Tredrea was part of the elite Z Special unit during the Second World War

Emperor Hirohito had announced Japan’s surrender in mid-August 1945 and the Second World War was officially finished, but no one had told an Australian commando who was leading a platoon of headhunters against Japanese forces in the Borneo jungle.

Warrant Officer II Jack Tredrea fought on, continuing to harass and ambush the enemy with rifle fire, grenades, parangs and a silent assault by poison dart propelled from a blowpipe.

Zhao Kangmin obituary

Single-minded museum curator who discovered the ancient Terracotta Army in 1974 after farmers had unearthed shards of pottery

The Queen viewed the Terracotta Army in 1986

As he gathered up the terracotta heads, torsos and arms half-buried in the soil, Zhao Kangmin knew that he had made one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in the world — an ancient terracotta army designed never to be seen by the living.

He wrapped the earthen limbs in linen and took them back to the small government museum where he worked as a curator. He then laboured through the night, washing the shards and using glue and plaster to piece them back together. Some fragments were no bigger than his thumbnail. A man of strict discipline and few words, Zhao was devoted to archaeology and nothing if not patient. When he had finished, two giant terracotta warriors towered over him.

What he had identified that day in 1974 was a vast terracotta army, commissioned about 2,000 years ago by China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to guard his tomb in the afterlife. As official excavations began around the ancient capital, Xianyang, about 22 miles from present-day Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, archaeologists soon found that there were thousands of figures. Among them were infantrymen, officers and kneeling archers, each with different facial expressions and positioned according to rank, as well as clay chariots with horses. The army occupied a series of underground burial chambers nearly 200 times bigger than the Valley of the Kings in Egypt; one chamber was the size of an aircraft hangar.

100 Years Ago

AUGUST 8, 1918

Forward with the Americans

New murder traps have been set by the Germans to catch unwary Americans in the towns and cities from which the enemy has been driven. On the floors in houses were found glass bulbs or bladders, full of phosgene gas to poison our men when entering. Other deposits of the same gas were left in tiny bags under helmets, as the Germans know that souvenir collecting is a passion of Americans. The captain who led the advance patrol of 30 Americans into a captured town saw in the dining-room of a small hotel a loaf of bread on the table, with a knife sticking in it. Suspecting a snare, he called upon a German prisoner to withdraw the knife. The effect was a violent explosion. A bomb had been left in the loaf, but only the prisoner was injured. When the captain reached the hotel a German officer came out, speaking excellent English, saying he desired to surrender. The American pulled out his revolver and jumped back barely in time to escape a rain of bullets from a machine-gun hidden under a cellar door.

Machine-guns, which have practically supplanted rifles with the Germans, are the bane of the overseas soldier, yet the Americans throw themselves against the pernicious weapons with almost superhuman audacity. Set up in rocky nests, clumps of bushes, or along ridges commanding fields of uncut grain, they are handled by an experienced enemy who keeps his presence of mind and offers the most desperate resistance before his opponents can come to hand-to-hand conflicts, where the superiority of the fresh and well-fed American troops always manifests itself

In the operating room of a hospital left by the enemy were some rolls of crepe paper, which the Germans have been using for dressing wounds, showing they have little cloth left. We also discovered that some burned bits of harness, instead of leather, were made from composite paper and hemp. A number of motor-cars burned and abandoned by the Germans in their flight had iron tires, indicating that the enemy was out of rubber. Millions of dollars’ worth of German supplies have been destroyed by the retreating enemy. The horizon at night is a succession of gigantic red patches, with occasional roars of touched-off ammunition which they could not remove.

This Week in History - The Armada Campaign (8 August 1588)

https://ospreypublishing.com/thisweekhistory/

Early on 8 August, Lord Howard's fireship attack drove the Spanish Armada from its anchorage off Calais. Most ships had to abandon their best and heaviest anchors as they manoeuvred rapidly to escape the threat and so were unable to return to the French coast where it had been planned that the Duke of Parma's invasion force would board. The Spanish were now widely scattered with the English fleet poised to windward and about to engage for the final, decisive battle of Gravelines. Superior English gunnery and a change in the wind ultimately overcame determined resistance and the Armada was driven up into the North Sea to sail home round Scotland. It was still intact as a fleet and a threat for the future, but in September Atlantic storms sweeping onto the west coast of Ireland destroyed around 45 of the 110 ships that had set sail from Lisbon five months earlier. Philip II did plan a second attempt to invade England with a new Armada, but, in 1596 and 1597, bad weather again defeated him and preserved the Reformation.

Further reading

Campaign 86: The Armada Campaign 1588 The Great Enterprise against England (see extract) is a detailed and gripping account of the 10 days of action between the first sighting of the Armada off the Devon coast and the battle at Gravelines and also covers the build-up to the invasion and the aftermath of its failure, all in the context of the national and religious politics of the time, and naval technology, tactics and strategy. Elite 15: The Armada Campaign 1588 focuses on the organisation, troops and equipment of the opposing sides while Elite 70:Elizabethan Sea Dogs 1560-1605 (extract below) goes into more detail on the swashbuckling English sea captains of the era, notably Drake, Grenville, Hawkins and Frobisher who were all involved in the action against the Armada. It also includes background on the Elizabethan art of war and on the ships that defeated the Armada.