2111 Financing War

This episode was written by Scott Forbes Crawford. An author based in Asia, he writes about ancient and medieval history in novels and nonfiction alike. A newly published history book, The Han-Xiongnu War, 133 BC – 89 AD, explores a decisive conflict between China and a nomadic steppe empire through the lives of fifteen historical figures, including the subject of today’s episode. Dur: 29mins File: .mp3

During the Baltic campaign of the Crimean War, in August 1854, Lieutenant John Bythesea together with Stoker William Johnstone of Her Majesty's ship HMS Arrogant performed an audacious act of bravery. This would lead to both men being awarded the Victoria Cross, among the first gazetted and earliest actions so awarded. Despite this, tragedy would soon envelop Stoker Johnstone and his story deserves to be better known. Dur: 19mins File: .mp3

During the Baltic campaign of the Crimean War, in August 1854, Lieutenant John Bythesea together with Stoker William Johnstone of Her Majesty's ship HMS Arrogant performed an audacious act of bravery. This would lead to both men being awarded the Victoria Cross, among the first gazetted and earliest actions so awarded. Despite this, tragedy would soon envelop Stoker Johnstone and his story deserves to be better known. Dur: 22mins File: .mp3

The legions of Magnentius and Decentius in Amida had been raised by the former usurper Magnentius (a general who usurped against Constantius in Gaul between 350 and 353) in his name and that of his brother. They were therefore a remnant of those disloyal troops, hence their stationing (a banishment) in the east. Their conduct at Amida would restore both their honour and reputation. Dur: 21mins File: .mp3

In the summer of AD 359, the armies of the Sasanian Persian Shahanshah ("King of Kings"), Shapur II (r. 309-379), invaded the Roman east. This invasion was the long-cherished revenge for a humiliating peace imposed on the Persians by the Romans sixty years earlier. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus was an eyewitness to the most dramatic events of this new war, serving in the army of the emperor Constantius II (r. 337-361) as a protector domesticus, a guard cavalryman. His Res Gestae (Roman History) at this point is full of precise detail and evocative description. No action is more dramatic than the Siege of Amida. Dur: 16mins File: .mp3

Our best source for Thutmose's battle of Megiddo are the Annals of Thutmose, an account kept by his scribe Tjaneni and then, almost twenty years later, inscribed into the interior walls of the sanctuary of the temple to Amun-Re at Karnak. There are other sources too. These were official documents, however, and we must be wary of 15th century BC spin. The traditional date of the battle is usually given as 1479 BC but it is more likely to date to 1457 BC - whichever year it was, it was the 23rd year of Thutmose’s reign. Dur: 24 mins File: .mp3

The Battle of Megiddo, fought during the latter stages of the First World War over a week in late September 1918 against the Ottoman Turks, was so-named quite deliberately by the victorious British general, Edmund Allenby. Allenby was entirely conscious of the associations with the battles of Megiddo of the past (especially Thutmose’s famous battle although another had been fought in 609 BC) but also with Armageddon and Revelation, named after the ‘perfect’ battlefield the area around Megiddo represented. Dur: 30 mins File: .mp3

On July 31st, 1945, the Japanese cruiser Takao sat at anchor in Singapore dockyard. Little did her crew know that beneath the surface of the water, Royal Navy divers prepared to place magnetic mines which would take her out of the war. The Takao-class heavy cruiser had been a threat to US and allied forces throughout the Pacific War. She had been in action since 1941 and participated in many engagements, sinking enemy shipping and supporting various landings and evacuations. She had also survived several engagements where many other Japanese ships had been sunk. With the sinking of her three sister ships, Atago, Maya, and Chōkai in late 1944, Takao, although damaged, remained a major threat in the theatre. Dur18 mins File: .mp3

Only one man has ever been awarded both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross - Surgeon General William Manley. In 1864 he was awarded a VC for his actions during the siege of Gate Pa during the New Zealand Wars. Then, when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Manley went with the British Ambulance Corps attached to the Prussian Army - in December 1870 he was awarded the Iron Cross (second class) for bravery in several engagements around Chateauneuf, Bretoncelles, Orleans, and Cravant. Dur: 21mins File: .mp3

When the Second Boer War was declared on October 11th, 1899, governments of colonies from around the British Empire offered to send troops to contribute to the British war effort. This included the governments of the six colonies of Australia (Australia would not be confederated into a Commonwealth until January 1st, 1901). Among the troops sent were the 1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmens’ Contingent, a unit whose members would be awarded two Victoria Crosses. Most of the troops the colonies of Australia contributed were mounted units, formed before departure. This was despite a decree requesting infantry contingents as being of most service and cavalry of the least. Dur: 36mins File: .mp3