RECONNAISSANCE Autumn 2019 edition

Below are the "From the Editor" comments of the Autumn 2019 edition of the Society's quarterly magazine, Reconnaissance. 

Welcome to the Autumn 2019 edition of Reconnaissance.

In this edition Robert Muscat expands on a theme he initially spoke about at a Society lecture in August 2017. Did the Americans win the Revolutionary War or did the British lose it? Of course in any military engagement the winners contribute to their victory and the losers to their defeat to some extent. But it is often possible to assign the outcome predominantly to one side of the other after weighing up the factors at play. Robert argues that while the courage, initiative and tactical creativity of the American militias can’t be dismissed, the British were poised to snuff out the Revolution in 1777 by virtue of far superior resources, including maritime support, abundant materiel and better trained regular troops.

All they needed was a bold plan to deliver the decisive stroke. Major-General John Burgoyne’s Saratoga Campaign, featuring a thrust to separate the northern from the southern colonies, was supposed to be that plan. But it all fell apart, worn down by petty rivalries and resentments, timidity, miscommunication and strategic blunders. 

In this edition we have another welcome contribution from the erudite Dr John Haken. In this compendium of facts and figures, he surveys all the submarines commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy from the earliest days before World War I to more recent times. You don’t know what it means to pack the maximum amount of facts into the minimum amount of space until you have read a piece by Dr Haken.

We also present a discussion by Don Smallwood on the interesting subject of why the economically dominant western Allies took so long to defeat Adolf Hitler. According to Don the answer lies in the almost complete lack of preparedness for war on the part of the western Allies in the 1930s. It took time to catch up to German levels of productive output and technical advances. But when they did catch up, the consequences for Germany were devastating.

Finally we have a biographical profile which fits into a category we particularly like at Reconnaissance, the story of a great unsung hero of war who failed to win the recognition and fame that they deserved. I expect few people know that during World War II the Royal Australian Navy deployed midget submarines (X Craft), like Japan. Dennis Weatherall tells us about one of the bravest and most skillful midget sub commanders, Lt Kenneth Hudspeth of the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve from Hobart. Hudspeth commanded his sub in crucial operations such as an attempted attack on German pocket battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst in the Kaa Fjord in Norway, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). His sub also saw action as a guidance beacon off Sword and Juno beaches during the D-Day landings, for which he was awarded 2 bars to his DSC. He took part in much other action besides. He ended the war as one of its most decorated Australian naval officers, but who knows his name?

I would like to conclude by making a call for articles to members and others, please feel free to send me any pieces you have written. I am always on the search for new material. There are no length requirements and editing assistance is available.

- Editor, Reconnaissance

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