Login
Register
Search
Members
Help
Announcements
The Great Siege "Malta 1565" by Ernie Bradford
Review written by Foul. [Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:21 pm]
![http://www.theblitz.org/new_blitz/uploads/users/98c5ee94670508_061[1].jpg](http://www.theblitz.org/new_blitz/uploads/users/98c5ee94670508_061[1].jpg)
|
The story of the siege is known as "The greatest film Hollywood never made". When Soleyman The Great decided to remove this Christian outpost in the Mediterranean, which had made itself a reputation for harrying Ottoman shipping, he believed it would take no longer than two weeks to achieve as the Island defenses where weak and the native population were not expected to help the Christian Knights in the defense, little could he have guessed at the fanatical resistance his troops would face from the Knights of St. John and the local Maltese. The siege started on the 18th May, despite being battered into a ruin and attacked several times by massed waves of Ottomans (including the elite Janissaries) the small fort of St.Elmo (which commanded the entrance to the Grand Harbor) held out for a month badly delaying the Ottoman's plans, once the fort had finally fallen and the Ottomans were able to batter the bastions of St.Michael and Castille (which were only held when the Grand Master Valletta personally defended the breaches) the defenders held out until the 8th September when finally a relief force was sent from Sicily. If you like sieges and true heroic historical events then this story has it all, like two heavy weight boxers, the two sides slugged it out for nearly four months, the story is full of amazing characters like The Grand Master Valletta who led the defense and the Ottoman hero Dragut who was considered by some a superior commander than Barbarossa and the brutality of the fighting (which included firing the severed heads of prisoners out of cannons) make the film "Kingdom Of Heaven" look like a Sunday school outing. Although this is an old book, it can still be found on Amazon in used from, if you buy it you will not be disappointed! Darran. |
Online
106 active users in the last 15 minutes [6 members and 26 guests] Complete list
Yandex[15] ,
Yahoo Slurp[44] ,
GoogleBot[11] ,
MSN Search[3] ,
Baidu ,
Midgard ,
Yorick ,
Iwo Jim ,
wigam ,
Akzium ,
Vesku
We currently have 6865 members registered.
Our newest member is kampfgruppe Steiner
The most users online at one time was 2006 on Sat Jan 30, 2010 1:03 am
1 user browsing this block [0 members and 1 guest]
We currently have 6865 members registered.
Our newest member is kampfgruppe Steiner
The most users online at one time was 2006 on Sat Jan 30, 2010 1:03 am
This page is Copyrighted © 1999-2010 by The Blitzkrieg Gaming Club All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Venus | Copyright 2010 Razvan Chis
0.0904
News
Welcome Fellow Blitzers!
We hope you enjoy the new site. Things are still in transition, so there will be some more tweaks along the way.
Please help us out by reporting any bad links or things that you don't think look quite right. You can do this on the New Blitz Message Boards,
Let's get it on!
Jim "von Krieg"
Blitzkrieg Commanding
Latest Results
Info
Ancient Wars Results
Black Powder Results
Campaign Series Results
Classic Wargames Results
Combat Mission Results
HPS Operational Campaigns Results
Operational Art of War Results
Sea and Air Combat Results
Squad Battles Results
Steel Panthers Results
Ancient Wars Results
| Wartwo Phatman Draw |
| Wartwo Tsunami Major Defeat |
| Wartwo Pete61 Major Defeat |
| Wartwo the secretary Major Victory |
| Wartwo Phatman Major Victory |
Black Powder Results
| Hwkhuntswalking robert noftz Major Loss |
| Hwkhuntswalking robert noftz Major Win |
| Hwkhuntswalking robert noftz Draw |
| CB_stug71 Bilco Major Loss |
| Hwkhuntswalking robert noftz Minor Win |
Campaign Series Results
| General Lee Ensayne Scud Major Victory |
| Chrome Larry Reese Minor Victory |
| leemac Antoni Chmielowski Major Victory |
| blacksherman TheFox Draw |
| Peiper Ed Major Victory |
Classic Wargames Results
| blacksherman TheFox Draw KP |
| Contra Rokossovsky59 Overwhelming Victory KP |
| Contra Freiherr Overwhelming Loss KP |
| blacksherman TheFox Draw |
| Contra burroughs Overwhelming Victory KP |
Combat Mission Results
| [RT] Pioneer Johnsy Total Victory |
| H Andre Draw |
| Ken F. (FGM) Lobo Major Victory |
| jawsconan Andre Total Victory |
| Kelen ekrommen Total Victory |
HPS Operational Campaigns Results
| CB_stug71 Thunder Major Loss |
| HarveyMoon DougMorel Minor Victory |
| Hwkhuntswalking celamanka Major Loss |
| Hwkhuntswalking celamanka Major Victory |
| Indragnir Taffy6 Draw |
Operational Art of War Results
| Airluca Antoni Chmielowski Overwhelming Victory |
| Kru Steiner44 Overwhelming Victory |
| Steiner44 Nemesis Draw |
| Antoni Chmielowski Nemesis Draw |
| Currahee Starfighter Overwhelming Victory |
Sea and Air Combat Results
| Antoni Chmielowski jah4tol Decisive Victory |
| Antoni Chmielowski Kil Roy Decisive Defeat |
| jah4tol Antoni Chmielowski Draw |
| sergio KG_RangerBooBoo Win |
| jah4tol Antoni Chmielowski Decisive Victory |
Squad Battles Results
| Rabbit jmlima Minor Victory |
| Rabbit jmlima Minor Victory |
| Mad_Dog Landser34 Major Loss |
| Luke fastphil Major Victory |
| flynavy Landser34 Major Victory |
Steel Panthers Results
| 2ndLt_Fjun Walrus Overwhelming Victory |
| Vesku Larz Overwhelming Victory |
| Outlaw Josey Wales Sentry Medium Loss |
| Outlaw Josey Wales Sentry Overwhelming Loss |
| wigam Iwo Jim Decisive Victory |
Aars
Dog Fight - PzC T41 Enter Rommel
By Dog Soldier
Here we begin an AAR of a HTH T41 scenario, #01a_Mersa_Brega_PBEM.scn. This is an exciting little gem of a scenario. There are several approaches to the game for the Axis player. Here is but one of them.
By Dog Soldier
Here we begin an AAR of a HTH T41 scenario, #01a_Mersa_Brega_PBEM.scn. This is an exciting little gem of a scenario. There are several approaches to the game for the Axis player. Here is but one of them.
Ladders
Info
Ancient Wars
Black Powder
Campaign Series
Classic Wargames
Combat Mission
HPS Operational Campaigns
Operational Art of War
Sea and Air Combat
Squad Battles
Steel Panthers
[All Ladders]
Ancient Wars
| 1 | Wartwo | 618 |
| 2 | Pete61 | 128 |
| 3 | Belisarius | 110 |
| 4 | Nikb | 70 |
| 5 | Jolly Roger | 50 |
Black Powder
| 1 | Bluto | 436 |
| 2 | Templar | 420 |
| 3 | Pete | 404 |
| 4 | Havoc | 306 |
| 5 | Outlaw Josey Wales | 224 |
Campaign Series
| 1 | Hawk Kriegsman | 2772 |
| 2 | Herr Straßen Läufer | 1915 |
| 3 | Tiger 88 | 1798 |
| 4 | Panzerjaeger | 1133 |
| 5 | Peiper | 1049 |
Classic Wargames
| 1 | Freiherr | 461 |
| 2 | Contra | 428 |
| 3 | czerpak | 160 |
| 4 | Angel14 | 80 |
| 5 | MarkR | 60 |
Combat Mission
| 1 | cargol | 4007 |
| 2 | Joonny | 1522 |
| 3 | hedgehog(FGM) | 1376 |
| 4 | Andre | 1350 |
| 5 | Der Kuenstler | 1178 |
HPS Operational Campaigns
| 1 | alaric99x | 1027 |
| 2 | Caseblue | 594 |
| 3 | Outlaw Josey Wales | 532 |
| 4 | Ricky B | 523 |
| 5 | Beerweasel | 498 |
Operational Art of War
| 1 | jah4tol | 565 |
| 2 | Kru | 388 |
| 3 | Johnsy | 366 |
| 4 | Currahee | 289 |
| 5 | Sapper | 242 |
Sea and Air Combat
| 1 | sergio | 480 |
| 2 | jah4tol | 420 |
| 3 | Antoni Chmielowski | 400 |
| 4 | Tsunami | 270 |
| 5 | Kil Roy | 180 |
Squad Battles
| 1 | tallin | 1390 |
| 2 | Landser34 | 1243 |
| 3 | Mad_Dog | 1047 |
| 4 | Laza | 692 |
| 5 | Ozgur Budak | 416 |
Steel Panthers
| 1 | Vesku | 1610 |
| 2 | Sentry | 1075 |
| 3 | Outlaw Josey Wales | 1055 |
| 4 | burroughs | 825 |
| 5 | SP Tournament Player | 740 |
[All Ladders]
Articles
History Article-Counterpoint to Stalingrad: Operation Mars
(November-December 1942): Marshal Zhukov's Greatest DefeatForeign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS. Introduction After enduring months of bitter and costly defensive combat at Stalingrad, on 19 November 1942, Red Army forces struck a massive blow against the hitherto triumphant German A... Read More
[All Articles]
(November-December 1942): Marshal Zhukov's Greatest DefeatForeign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS. Introduction After enduring months of bitter and costly defensive combat at Stalingrad, on 19 November 1942, Red Army forces struck a massive blow against the hitherto triumphant German A... Read More
[All Articles]
Poll
There are no available polls
Status: Offline
Glad you enjoyed it, having been to Valetta myself and stood on the spot where the guns pounded St.Elmo to dust it is incredible the fort held out for 30 days, as you say these people were tough in a way we cannot comprehend.
The book can be found by looking on Amazon and seeing if used copies are available.
Status: Offline
My dad encouraged me to read this book years ago and I failed to do so. I finally came through and read it just this last summer and regret not having followed his advice years earlier. it is truly a fine book and an absolutely riveting story. One thing I'll always remember is an excursus about how amazingly tough these people were and Valetta in particular. It's almost impossible for a modern person to grasp how habitutated these guys were to the most extreme suffering. Anyway, thanks, Foul, for bringing this book to the attantion of folks here. It's a classic and it's a damn shame it's out of print.
Tim