The Second World War saw warfare on an unprecedented global scale. These battlefield studies cover land, sea, and air campaigns using war diaries, tactical maps, aerial reconnaissance photos, and modern terrain studies. Each post is based on firsthand battlefield exploration and examines how command, innovation, and terrain decided the outcome—from Blitzkrieg to the Pacific island battles.
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British 6th Airborne Division’s role on D-Day was multi-faceted. In the opening minutes, glider-borne troops would seize the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne. Soon afterwards, paratroopers would neutralise Merville Battery. Others would destroy key bridges over the Dives and prepare for German counterattacks. The mission was audacious, high risk, and critical to the success of the D-Day landings
August 2026, west of Point Cruz, Guadalcanal. I am walking the section of coast known to history as ‘Little Dunkirk’. Here, on 27 September 1942, the 1st Battalion 7th Marines was evacuated under fire by the US Navy and Coast Guard during the 2nd Battle of the Matanikau. This was the only significant American defeat on land during the six-month Guadalcanal Campaign.
August 2026, Edson’s Ridge, south of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. I am exploring the sites of the 12-14 September 1942 Japanese attack against the Lunga perimeter. The long north-south ridgeline here became known as ‘Edson’s Ridge’ or ‘Bloody Ridge’ after the battle. The Japanese called it ‘The Centipede’. This is one of the best-preserved battle sites on Guadalcanal.
August 2026, Ilu River (Alligator Creek). I am exploring the site of the 21 August 1942 Japanese attack against the Marines on the Lunga perimeter. The Japanese ‘Ichiki Detachment’ was a battalion-sized force from the 28th Infantry Regiment, led by the Regimental Commander, Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki. Facing them across the Ilu River was the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines
and 1st Battalion, 1st Marines
Matanikau Village site, August 2026. I am exploring the site of the First Battle of the Matanikau, 18-19 August 1942. The battle was the first major battle west of the Matanikau and bears many similarities with the other five or six battles (depending on how you count them) on the Matanikau that would follow, each progressively larger and more costly than the previous battles.
August 2026, at the mouth of the Matanikau River. I am exploring the sites associated with the ill-fated ‘Goettge Patrol’ of 12-13 August 1942. The action happened over a very small area on the beachline west of the Matanikau, near the old village of Matanikau, now overrun by urban sprawl. In 1942 the jungle extended all the way to the beach.
Gavutu & Tanambogo Islands, 8 August 2026. I am exploring the site of some of the most bitter fighting of the entire Guadalcanal Campaign, and it happened right here over 7-9 August 1942, While the landings at Beach Red on the big island of Guadalcanal had gone ahead unopposed, the landings at Tulagi and Gavutu & Tanambogo were both met with ferocious resistance.
Tulagi Island, 8 August 2026. I crossed Iron Bottom Sound from Honiara to Tulagi by a dawn high-speed ferry. The trip was roughly two hours long. The date of my battlefield visit also coincided with the official 84th anniversary commemoration of the battle. The commemorative service was held on Blue Beach and was attended by Solomon Islands officials, the United States Chargé d’Affaires, veterans, and local community members.
August 2026, Beach Red, Guadalcanal, I am walking the ground at Beach Red, site of the 1st Marine Division landings on 7 August 1942. Compared to many other WW2 sites on the island, Beach Red is little changed since 1942. The beach is about four kilometres east of Henderson Field and curves from the Tenaru River Delta in the west to Koli Point in the east.
September 2025, Leopoldsburg, Belgium. I am standing on Nicolaylaan Street, on the site of the old Cinema Splendid. On the morning of 15 September 1944, one of the most consequential military briefings of the Second World War took place inside its walls. Lt Gen. Brian Horrocks stood before his subordinate commanders of XXX Corps and briefed them on the advance to Arnhem,