Smoking out the wasps

The forced landing of a shot-up Junkers Ju 88A bomber of Kampfgeschwader (KG) 77 on the north Kent coast in late September 1940, during one of the bloodiest days of the Battle of Britain, gave rise to

On 11 September 1940, during the late afternoon, between 20 and 30 Messerschmitt Bf 110C/Ds from I. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader (ZG) 26 were assigned to fly as part of the fighter cover protecting a

The creation of the Fw 58, Focke-Wulf’s first aircraft to feature a retractable undercarriage, was overseen at the company’s Bremen factory by 33-year-old Kurt Tank, who had been appointed Chief of De

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, German troops faced an unexpected threat. The French Army used hot-air balloons, or Montgolfiers, for the first time for reconnaissance and intelligence purp

On the morning of Sunday, 3 September 1916, farm bailiff Charles Lewis set out across the fields at Abbott’s Hall near the village of Horsley Cross, in rural Essex, to check on the wheat crop. He took

When their B-17 came under attack during a reconnaissance mission in the South Pacific, two crewmen earned the highest award for gallantry