Featured battle : Mannheim

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 18 September 1799

General Müller commanding part of the French army of the Rhine was attacked by the Archduke Charles with a numerically equal force of Austrians. The Austrians won the day and took a considerable quantity of guns, vehicles and military supplies as well as two colours.

Running the Gauntlet

Bernard Edwards
I really enjoyed this book, as gripping as a good novel, until it hit home how inappropriate is the word ‘enjoyed’. The men in this book are not fictional characters from some author’s imagination. This is the story of some of the brave men who did a very dangerous job many of whom died in the course of their work. Some were blown to pieces in an instant others died after many days adrift in an open boat or on a Carley float. The job those fellow merchant seamen who survived did, showing courage and skilled seamanship, was crucial to the nation’s survival.
This well researched book covers only a few of the losses to the merchant navy fleet but it is well representative of the service we should never forget.
Once started it is a difficult book to put down and we highly recommend it.

Pen & Sword Maritime, 2022