October 25 is the anniversary of three major battles: Agincourt, the charge of the Light Brigade, and Leyte Gulf — including a documentary on the Charge of the Light Brigade with graphic quotes from survivors and the original 1890 recording (made by Thomas Edison) of Alfred Tennyson reading part of his famous poem.


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Leyte Gulf

Great Book on the battle.

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour

Disaster, Ego, Epic Heroism, and the Fog of War all in one.

What is called battle of Leyte gulf was a series of battles over a few days. The battle of Samar was the bad one for American ships. My wife’s grandpa was in that battle on The Kalinan Bay and his ship was hit hard and well damaged but survived on 10/25/44

Overall decisive win for the Allies and a death blow for a bunch of Imperial carriers and big battleships. Which then set the stage to set up direct attacks on the Japanese mainland

Listen to the recording, made in 1890 by Thomas Edison, of Alfred Tennyson reading his poem.

Absolutely fascinating!

http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/images/games/game.swf

I note that nobody has mentioned the Battle of Azincourt [old spelling] in 1415, in which a bunch of Englishmen and Welshmen defeated a French Army five times bigger, whilst standing in the lines stark bollock nekkid from the waist down - the results of violent dysentry. A dark side was the slaughter of a couple of thousand French prisoners of war, that Henry believed were about to be freed and joined by another bunch of Frenchies sneaking around the hedgerows. Our local church has a memorial plaque commemorating the death of the Duke of York - from suffocation in mud - during the battle. I went to the battlefield a few years back, and could see how badly the French got it wrong, charging again and again uphill in two or three feet of mud. A read of the book 'Agincourt', is a must. Anybody on this forum with ancestors in England or Wales probably had ancestors who were there on St Crispin's Day, 1415 - 'we happy band of brothers...'

ALL of the linked videos are worth watching!

Oddly enough, it seems that Agincourt and The Charge of the Light Brigade are related in that they both were about devastating losses to cavalry. At Agincourt, the far superior French Army numbers were negated by English longbow men, and French cavalry, in particular suffered heavy casualties. Historians say Agincourt predicted the demise of the cavalry charge.

Some historians called the Battle of Balaclava the last real cavalry charge of symmetrical warfare. The two battles are 400+ years apart, so it took a long time.

Never thought about longbows and plate armor before. I had heard of “bodkin” points, but never put the two together. The surgery story was amazing.

Finally, never knew about colored “ranging shells.” I had two uncles (brothers) who were on destroyers in the South Pacific. They were present at Leyte Gulf.

Thanks, Jim. Hope you’re feeling pretty good today.