Featured battle : Elandslaagte

Part of The 2nd Boer War (or Three Years War)

Date : 21 October 1899

General Kock with 1,000 Boers holding a ridge near Elandslaagte were attacked by Gen John French's Cavalry and Col Ian Hamilton with 3,000 Infantry. Acurate fire from the Boer's Mauser rifles and a barbed wire fence held up the British frontal advance, but following reinforcement the British reached the crest as Kock himself and 50 of his men counter-attacked and drove them back. They rallied, however, and Kock withdrew, the Boers melting into the countryside as was their usual tactic. However 400 Cavalry and Lancers were waiting to cut them down as they retreated.

The Doolittle Raid

John Grehan & Alexander Nicoll
The Doolittle Raid is in the Images of Aviation series and images it certainly has. There are photographs of all the aircraft, all of the crews and many of the ships that took part in that historic adventure. But this book is much more than the images in that it also tells the story of the raid largely through the reports of Colonel Doolittle and others who took part in the action. The photographs are well annotated and given context by the text. In this book we have a factual introduction free from authors conjectures, what ifs and opinions and is best seen as an essential introduction to greater in depth analysis. The references and notes point to further readings should one want it.
This great story, well told and illustrated, will appeal to a wide range of reader and we highly recommend it.

Air World Books, 2020