The field notes, terrain analysis, and working research behind every battlefield study
What lies behind the published studies
What you see in the published Battlefield Studies is the final, structured analysis. Each battlefield study takes weeks or months to research, analyse and write. But behind every battle study article is a much larger body of raw material: notes, terrain observations, maps, imagery, GIS overlays, and evolving interpretations. This ‘Behind the Scenes‘ data is now published regularly as:
- Field Notes – Raw observations directly from the battlefields
- Research Dispatches – Consolidated monthly updates on newly published articles, works in progress, and research insights
What are Field Notes?
Field Notes are the raw, visceral records I write after walking the battlefield. They capture the “I am standing here right now…” moments, the feel of the ground, the micro-terrain details, and the first-hand insights that later shape the full studies. These are not polished academic pieces. They are personal, immediate, and often written the same day I visit a site most people will never see in person. What to expect:
- Detailed terrain reads that don’t appear in published articles
- Additional imagery and ground-level perspectives
- Map comparisons and spatial analysis
- Extracts and interpretations from primary sources
- Alternative readings of key moments in battles
- Early-stage ideas and evolving conclusions
Field Notes and Research Dispatches are membership content
$9 per month gives you full access to the complete archive plus the Deep Research Collection, all new Field Notes, tactical Innovations, and Research Dispatches as they are published.
I am adding new notes regularly — there will eventually be hundreds of them as I transcribe my notes and continue exploring battlefields around the world.
🎁 Free Sample — Read the complete Field Note from Long Tan here:
📝 Field Note: Battle of Long Tan, South Vietnam, 18 August 1966
August 2015, Long Tan Rubber Plantation, Baria-Vung Tau Province, Vietnam. I am standing at the Long Tan Cross memorial to the 18 Australian soldiers killed here during the Battle of Long Tan, 18 August 1966. Across the Long Tan battlefield, there is very little apparent relief in the terrain. The ground is largely flat and…
Latest Field Notes
These Field Notes offer a glimpse into the terrain observations and working analysis behind each study.
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle of Edson’s Ridge (Bloody Ridge), 12-14 September 1942
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 in ‘The Centipede’. This is one of the best-preserved battle sites…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle of the Tenaru (Alligator Creek), 21 August 1942
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…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – First Battle of the Matanikau, 18-19 August 1942
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…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Goettge Patrol Incident, 12-13 August 1942
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…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle for Gavutu & Tanambogo Islands, 7-9 August 1942
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…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Battle for Tulagi Island, 7-8 August 1942
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…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Guadalcanal – Beach Red landings, 7 August 1942
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…
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📝 🔒Field Note: XXX Corps Orders, Leopoldsburg, Belgium, 15 Sep 1944
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…
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📝 🔒Field Note: Fort Eben-Emael Glider Assault, Belgium, 10 May 1940
October 2025, Fort Eben-Emael, Liège, Belgium. I am exploring the great Belgian fortress of Eben-Emael. In May 1940, this was the site of one of the boldest, most dramatic actions in military history. A handful of German glider-borne assault engineers neutralised the most powerful fortress in Europe in under twenty-four hours, using a weapon no…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Nghĩa Lộ, Tonkin, Sep-Oct 1951 – the hilltop positions at Ba Khe
April 2025. Ba Khe, near the village of Cát Thịnh, Yên Bái Province, Vietnam. I am exploring the old Route Coloniale 13 west of Yen Bai, retracing the ground fought over during the October 1951 battle for Nghĩa Lộ. This is steep, broken country. The road winds through narrow valleys, overlooked by sharply rising hills,…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Siege of Orléans, France, May 1429 —battle for the Tourelles
October 2024, Orléans, south side of the Loire River. I am exploring the Hundred Years War battle locations around the city of Orléans. On this site on 7 May 1429, a French Army led by Count John Dunois, ‘The Bastard of Orléans’, and Captain La Hire, and inspired by Jeanne d’Arc, a 17-year old French…
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📝🔒Field Note: Battle of Königgrätz, Czech Republic, 3 July 1866 — the fight for Chlum
June 2017. Chlum Village, just outside modern Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. I visited Chlum during my exploration of the Königgrätz battlefield in 2015 and again in 2017. I explored Sadowa, Rozběřice, Chlum, the Svíb Forest, and the southern sector around Nechanice. The modern battlefield is quiet, agricultural, and deceptively open. It takes some effort to…
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📝🔒Field Note: Battle for Verdun, France, Feb – Dec 1916
November 2024. Verdun, northeastern France. This is my second time exploring the battlefields of Verdun. The first impression is the massive scale of the fortification complex. Large and small forts with interlocking and mutually supporting fields of fire cover several hundred square kilometres. The ground is still broken by overlapping shell craters, stretching in all…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Waterloo, Belgium, 18 June 1815
October 2024. Waterloo, Belgium. I have been here before, but this visit was far more comprehensive. Standing on the Mont-Saint-Jean ridge, the key feature is the reverse slope. From the French side, you don’t see much of Wellington’s position. The crest blocks your view, and everything behind it disappears. That’s where the bulk of the…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Nà Sản, Vietnam, 23 Nov – 10 Dec 1952
April 2025. Nà Sản, Vietnam. Our next stop was at the old fortified ‘hedgehog’ of Nà Sản, just east of Son La. The French and Viet Minh fought a massive battle here in late 1952, the outcome of which convinced the French that holding a remote airbase and using superior French firepower to defeat enemy…
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📝🔒Field Note: Belleau Wood, France, June 1918
July 2012, Belleau Wood, near Château-Thierry, France. I am exploring the site of the legendary US Marine battle in June 1918. The first impression of ‘Bois Belleau’ is confinement. The ground is enclosed by dense woodland, with limited lines of sight and little sense of distance.
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📝🔒Field Note: Liege Forts, Belgium, August 1914
October 2025, Liege, Belgium. I am visiting the ring of great forts that once protected the Belgian city of Liège. In the 1880s, the Belgians constructed a series of forts to protect Liège against a potential German attack. The twelve forts of Liege could cover the approaches and support the neighbouring forts. The forts are:…
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📝🔒Field Note: Battle of Ollantaytambo, Peru, January 1537
February 2020, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru. I am exploring the site of a 1537 battle between Manco Inca’s indigenous forces and the Spanish Conquistadors under Hernando Pizarro. Part of the Spanish conquest of the New World.
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📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Teutoburg Forest (Kalkriese), Germany, AD 9
October 2025, Kalkriese, Germany. I am exploring the ancient battlefield of Teutoberg Forest, accompanied by Stefan, the Chief Archaeologist at the site. In AD 9, Roman General Varus led a punitive expedition of three veteran Legions into the area of Teutoberg Forest. Arminius led the Roman Legions to a location near present-day Kalkriese. Here, the…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Op Market Garden, Netherlands, 17 September 1944 — Achterste Brug
September 2025, Hell’s Highway, south of Eindhoven, Netherlands. I am exploring Hell’s Highway in the vicinity of Achterste Bridge with author Jack Didden. On 17 September 1944, Sherman tanks of the Guards Brigade led the XXX Corps advance from the Belgian border north towards Eindhoven, Nijmegen and, eventually, Arnhem. Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur’s Irish Guards…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Arnhem, Netherlands, 17 September 1944 — Kussin ambush
September 2025, Arnhem, Netherlands. I am standing at the intersection of Wolfhezerweg and Utrechtseweg with author David Buggenum, on the site where the local German commander, Generalmajor Friedrich Kussin, was ambushed and killed by members of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, on 17 September 1944.
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📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Ramillies, Belgium, 23 May 1706
November 2025, Ramillies, Belgium. I am exploring the battlefield of Ramillies. Here on 23 May 1706, an Allied Army under John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, defeated a French army under Marshall Villeroi. The ground here is open, gently rolling country, cut by small streams and defined by long field boundaries—terrain that enables movement and…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Fredericksburg, Virginia, 13 December 1862 — Marye’s Heights
June 2019, Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the base of Marye’s Heights. This is perhaps my fourth or fifth time visiting the Fredericksburg battlefield over the past 30 years. Standing here, the defensive geometry is immediately apparent. A sunken road, fronted by a chest-high stone wall, runs along the base of the ridge. Behind it, the ground…
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📝🔒 Field Note: 6th Colonial Parachute Battalion at Tu Lê, Vietnam, 11–24 October 1952
April 2025. Tu Lê Valley, Yên Bái Province, Vietnam. I am exploring the site of Major Marcel Bigeard and 6e Bataillon Colonial de Parachutistes (6e BPC) epic stand and fighting withdrawal from Tu Lê in October 1952. In my personal collection, I have a 6e BPC paratroopers beret, so I brought it back here to…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Chieveley, Natal, 15 November 1899 — the armoured train incident
June 2011. Chieveley, KwaZulu-Natal. I am exploring the battle site at Chieveley, just south of Colenso. This is the site where Winston Churchill, then a correspondent for the Morning Post, was captured by Boer forces following the ambush and derailment of a British armoured train.
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📝🔒 Field Note: Nijmegen, 20 September 1944 — Waal River Crossing
September 2025, Nijmegen, Netherlands. I am standing at the site on the Waal River, where Major Julian Cook led the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504 PIR) of the US 82nd Airborne Division in a dramatic assault river crossing to seize the northern end of the Waal Road Bridge at Nijmegen.
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📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Isurava, Papua New Guinea, 26-31 August 1942
August 2002, Isurava, Papua New Guinea. I explored the Isurava battlefield in August 2002, around the 60th anniversary of the battle, during preparations to open the spectacular new memorial on the Kokoda Track. At the time, I was still serving in the Army back then, and I flew Prime Minister John Howard and veterans of…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Battle of Long Tan, South Vietnam, 18 August 1966
August 2015, Long Tan Rubber Plantation, Baria-Vung Tau Province, Vietnam. I am standing at the Long Tan Cross memorial to the 18 Australian soldiers killed here during the Battle of Long Tan, 18 August 1966. Across the Long Tan battlefield, there is very little apparent relief in the terrain. The ground is largely flat and…
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📝🔒 Field Note: Easy Company assault at Randwijk Crossroads, 5 October 1944
September 2025, Randwijk, Netherlands. I am standing at the “Crossroads” made famous in Band of Brothers Episode 5: Crossroads. On 5 October 1944, a brief battle took place here, east of the village of Randwijk, in the area between the Rhine and the Waal known as “The Island.”
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Authored by Mick Prictor, a retired military officer with 40 years’ service, and a military historian specialising in terrain-focused analysis of tactics, doctrine, and command decision-making in land warfare. His work draws on extensive battlefield fieldwork—more than 280 sites worldwide—and one of the world’s largest private collections of historic military arms, uniforms, and equipment. About me
FAQ: Behind the Scenes – Field Notes
Field Notes are short, terrain-focused observations drawn from battlefield visits and ongoing research. They capture how ground is read in practice—lines of sight, dead ground, movement corridors, and micro-terrain features.
Battle Studies present the full, structured analysis of a battle. Field Notes are the underlying observations—more focused, more immediate, and often tied to specific locations or features.
No. Each Field Note is an extract from a larger body of research. The full notes include additional imagery, extended terrain analysis, and working interpretation.
Each note continues into the full Field Notes archive, along with Research Dispatches and additional material, unlocked via Patreon.
No. The transition is seamless—each note leads directly into the extended material, which is unlocked via Patreon.
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