Benito Mussolini led Italy through a disastrous and unpopular conflict during World War Two and by 1945 his time was running out. He had been arrested by the King of Italy in 1943 before being ‘rescued’ by his German allies and installed as a puppet ruler in the northern part of the country. History of War Issue 29 explores how the former dictator reached his endgame in the final days of the war when the Allies and Italian partisans closed in on him.
Issue 29 also looks at the remarkable military careers of T E Lawrence and John, Duke of Bedford. Famously known as “Lawrence of Arabia”, this bookish British archaeologist managed to help unite the Arab tribes against the Ottoman Empire during World War One and carried a brilliantly mobile guerrilla campaign in the desert. On the other hand Bedford was a highly successful English soldier during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) but became completely overshadowed by his older brother Henry V and his arch-nemesis Joan of Arc. Issue 29 reveals how Bedford won a huge victory at Verneuil in 1424 that came to be known as “The Second Agincourt”.
Elsewhere there is an in-depth look at the “Sound of the Vietnam War”: the Huey Helicopter and the decisive Prussian victory at Sedan that finally destroyed the Bonaparte dynasty of France.
Also in Issue 29
- Frontline: Operation Barbarossa
- VC Heroes: Francis Harvey
- The Briefing: Hell Salvador
- Egypt’s struggle for Canaan
- Australia’s thin green line
- Artefact of War: Boar badge of Bosworth