Desert Warfare: Did you mean...?

With zinging arrows, powerful crossbow bolts, stabbing swords, and swinging axes all a staple feature of the Chinese battlefield, it is not surprising that soldiers sought to protect themselves as best they could with armour and shields...

Chinese warfare involved perhaps the largest and most technologically advanced armies in the ancient world. Chariots, cavalry, swords, bows and crossbows were all staple features of the battles which raged as rulers forever struggled to dominate...

We have prepared four lesson plans including classroom activities, assignments, homework, and keys as well as: - Multiple choice quiz questions in an excel format. - Glossary of keywords and concepts in an excel format. - Open questions...

Scandinavians from the island of Gotland began to spread throughout the Baltic region along the Russian rivers in the 700s. While the Vikings of Norway and Denmark from the 8th to 11th centuries are widely recognized as fearsome raiders and...

The ancient Greek city-states were in a constant rivalry for land, resources and power which meant that warfare became an ever-present aspect of life. Athens and Sparta were famous rivals throughout the Classical period but other cities like...

The siege of the port of Tobruk in Libya (April to Dec 1941) by Axis forces during the Second World War (1939-45) lasted 242 days and became a symbol of Allied resistance. Besieged by land but still supplied by sea, Tobruk was of vital strategic...

A photograph taken in May 1941 showing a British soldier protecting himself against a sandstorm during the Western Desert Campaigns in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

The Assyrian military was the most effective – and feared – fighting force in the Near East, especially during the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, 912-612 BCE, when their territory expanded across Mesopotamia, the Levant, into Asia Minor...

The defence by Free French forces of the remote desert watering hole of Bir Hakeim (Hacheim) in Libya, North Africa in May-June 1942 during the Second World War (1939-45) is one of the most heroic episodes in French military history. Although...

The Second Battle of El Alamein (Oct-Nov 1942) was a major battle in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). The British Eighth Army led by General Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976) won a decisive...