For the Victorian and Colonial miniature wargamer, here is a site with names of, and information about 19th Century Gentlemen’s clubs. Another site about these exclusive clubs is here.
History
What Happened to West End Games?
I’ve been keeping this link about West End games in my Favorites folder. I’ve posted it here in response to a request on The Miniatures Page.
Top Ten Strangest Wars
Here’s an interesting article on the Top Ten Bizarre Wars, such as this one:
In 1883, the citizens of Lijar, a small village in southern Spain were infuriated when they heard reports that, while visiting Paris, the Spanish king, Alfonso XII had been insulted and even attacked in the streets by Parisian mobs. In response, the mayor of Lijar, Don Miguel Garcia Saez, and all 300 citizens of Lijar declared war on France on October 14, 1883. Not a single shot was fired, and not a single casualty sustained on either side during the confrontation, but despite the anticlimactic war, Mayor Saez was declared “The Terror Of The Sierras,” for his exploit.
A full ninety-three years later, in 1976, King Juan-Carlos of Spain made a trip to Paris, during which he was treated with great respect by the citizens of the French capital. In 1981, the town council of Lijar ruled that “in view of the excellent attitude of the French,” they would end hostilities and agree to a ceasefire with France.War duration: (1883-1981) Ninety-eight years.
Casualties: None.
Others on the list, such as the Great Paraguayan War are not so happy. Its all good fodder for gaming.
Eyewitness To History
The Eyewitness To History site has hundreds of first-hand accounts of major events in history. There is a lot here for games creating wargames scenarios. For example, here is an eyewitness account of the Battle Of Antietam, from David Thompson, a member of the 9th NY Volunteers.
Adrian Carton de Wiart: The unkillable soldier
The BBC has an article on Adrian Carton de Wiart, a legendary British soldier. From the article:
Carton de Wiart served in the Boer War, World War One and World War Two. In the process he was shot in the face, losing his left eye, and was also shot through the skull, hip, leg, ankle and ear.
In WW1 he was severely wounded on eight occasions and mentioned in despatches six times.
Having previously lost an eye and a hand in battle, Carton de Wiart, as commanding officer, was seen by his men pulling the pins of grenades out with his teeth and hurling them with his one good arm during the Battle of the Somme, winning the Victoria Cross.