History Archives - Page 6 of 6 - The Casual Observer

Michael Wittmann and the Tiger 1 Tank

By Dean McCleland in History, Military History 14 June 2014 2 Comments

A Metaphor of German Brilliance and Flawed Thinking in WW2

Wittmann and the Tiger 1 represented the very best of German manhood and Engineering. Joined together they represented an invincible combination. Both had fatal flaws.

Michael Wittmann was emblematic of WW2 German Panzer Tank Commanders. He was credited with the destruction of 138 tanks and 132 anti-tank guns, along with an unknown number of other armoured vehicles, making him one of Germany’s top scoring panzer aces, together with Johannes Bölter, Ernst Barkmann, Otto Carius and Kurt Knispel who was the top scoring ace of the war with 168 tank kills.

This Day in History: 6th June 1944 – D-Day

The largest beach landing in history

The 6^th June 2014 represented the 70^th anniversary of the invasion of Nazi occupied Europe and has widely become recognised by the generic military term known as D-Day or the first day of the attack. Hence D+1 would be the second day et cetera. Due to this conflation, the term D-Day in common parlance is synonymous with the landing on the Normandy Beaches.

As a tribute to the men who fought and died there, on every tenth anniversary of the battle, paratroop veterans would parachute into Normandy. On the 60^th anniversary, ten years ago, this practice was abandoned due to the superannuation of the veterans being a minimum of 80 years of age. On this anniversary, ten years later, one brave solitary soul, a Scotsman, Jack Hutton, elected to show that he was made of sterner stuff and represented all those still alive but now too fragile to do so.

Stalin: Abandoned on his Death Bed

By Dean McCleland in History, Opinion Pieces 6 May 2014 0 Comment

A Personal View – March 2014

I have an intense fascination for the great dictators of the Twentieth Century – Hitler, Stalin & Mao. This preoccupation is an attempt to understand how they managed to obtain power, why nobody attempted to thwart their diabolical plans & what the impact on the ordinary person was.

Of the three, Hitler’s Germany has been comprehensively dissected & analysed from all possible angles whereas those of Stalin & Mao have not been as thoroughly explored. This is probably a result of the lack of information available on those societies.

The Narvik Landings Fiasco: In its wake why was its progenitor Churchill appointed as Prime Minister

By Dean McCleland in History, Military History 1 May 2014 0 Comment

A Personal View – April 2014

The Parliamentary Session in the British House of Commons on the 9^th May 1940 was acrimonious. The emergency debate revolved around the catastrophe in Norway.

This campaign had been Churchill’s brainchild as the First Lord of the Admiralty. As Churchill rose to speak, he instinctively knew that this speech would probably be the most important speech in his entire political career. At 64 years of age, his life-long ambition of holding high political office could possibly remain a pipe-dream.

Main picture: Untrained British forces landing at Narvik, Norway

Hitler: Was he complicit in the death of his half-niece Geli Raubal?

By Dean McCleland in History, Military History 28 April 2014 0 Comment

A Personal View – April 2014

Hitler was unable to form normal relationships with other people. During WW1 he rarely if ever fraternised with his fellow soldiers but studiously avoided them. Bravery he had in abundance which is attested by the fact that he was awarded the Iron Cross not once but twice; one was First Class while the other was Second Class.

Fellow soldiers describe him as a loner. He was considered for promotion but it was declined on the basis of his anti-social tendencies.

Main picture: Hitler with his niece Geli Raubal

The Opinion Pieces are an eclectic bunch on current affairs & history often with a human interest aspect. The Movie/DVDs reviews are mainly on documentaries with a smattering of movie reviews.

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