“ON THE EVE of the first world war a young Winston Churchill switched the Royal Navy from coal to oil. As Daniel Yergin put it in his book“The Prize”, the reliance on doubtful supplies of oil from Persia rather than Welsh coal turned energy security into a question of national strategy. Churchill responded that “safety and certainty in oil… Read More
“We’ve got no place in this outfit for good losers. We want tough hombres who will go in there and win!” Another variation: “The navy has no place for good losers! The navy needs tough sons of bitches who can go out there and win!” Admiral Jonas Ingram (1887 to 1952) Jonas Howard Ingram was… Read More
“The greatest mistake you can make in this life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” Elbert Hubbard (1856 to 1915) Elbert Green Hubbard was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Elbert and his second wife, Alice Moore Hubbard, died aboard the RMS Lusitania when it was sunk by a German submarine… Read More
“Strength lies not in defense but in attack.” Adolf Hitler (1889 to 1945) Adolf Hitler is one of the most well-known – and reviled – figures in history. As the leader of Nazi Germany, he orchestrated both World War II and the Holocaust, events that led to the deaths of at least 40,000,000 people. In… Read More
“How to achieve the moral breakdown of the enemy before the war has started – that is the problem that interests me. Whoever has experienced war at the front will want to refrain from all avoidable bloodshed.” Adolf Hitler (1889 to 1945) Adolf Hitler is one of the most well-known – and reviled – figures… Read More
“Once we have war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.” Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 to 1961) An American novelist and short-story writer who served in World War I (in 1918 as an ambulance driver in the Italian… Read More
I have always been interested to know how the size of the British armed forces has fluctuated over the years, and the statistics in a FOI request from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) makes interesting reading. FOI – Size of the UK Armed Forces Since 1700. From 1700 to 1900, as you might expect, the… Read More
Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute 