The Principles of War - Lessons from Military History on Strategy, Tactics and Leadership.

Our first campaign that we will look at is from Malaya.

We detail some of the key people in the Malaya Campaign:

LT Gen Percival

AVM Pulford

LT Gen Heath

MAJ Gen Gordon Heath

LT Gen Yamashita

We look at the numbers for both sides. Yamashita was fighting significantly outnumbered, so how did he make up the numbers?

Armoured warfare - who had the advantage with tanks?

In late 1941 the war is going quite badly for the Allies, the Germans are at the gates of Moscow.

The Royal Navy sends Prince of Wales and Repulse to defend Singapore and Malaya. After Japanese landings, Force Z moves out to defeat the Japanese only to be sunk. Churchill describes it as the greatest naval disaster ever in the history of the Royal Navy.

The Japanese fight at Jitra and win. Within the first 100 hours, they have achieved control of the air, control of the sea and started to dominate on the land.

Yamashita pushes aggressively south down Malaya. A series of major withdrawals continue. He leapfrogs down the Western coast of Malaya outflanking the Allies out of prepared defences.

Wavell takes command of the ABDA command and he orders a 150 mile retreat.

We look at COL Tsuji, the God of Operations and how he prepared the strategy for the Japanese attack.

Wavell meets MAJ GEN Bennett and likes the aggressive spirit that he displays. An inexperienced divisional staff takes over command of 3 divisions.

The Battle of Muar is fought and lost and significant casualties are suffered by the Allies.

The situation is so bad in the air that unarmed flying club planes are used for recon.

The Japanese advanced 740 km in one month and 1 month and 23 days with a force ratio of 1:2, not the expected 3:1. How did they manage such a marked victory?

We look at how the Principles of War podcast is going to work, what we want to do and how we are going to do it.

We discuss how terrain plays a part in the outcomes of battles and we will be looking at leadership.

What role does leadership play in battle? What about Post H-Hour Execution and leadership? We look at some examples from General Grant's experiences that lead him to be the Commander of the Army of the Potomac.

We discuss each of the principles and give a brief example of why each is important.

Selection and the Maintenance of the Aim. Probably the most important of the principles.

Concentration of Force - My strategy is 1 against 10 - my tactics 10 against 1. The

Economy of effort - if you aren't the main effort, you will be short of everything except the enemy.

Co-operation - why is this so difficult to achieve. We briefly looked at the problems with co-operation for the D-Day landings.

Security - Truth is so precious it should be attended by a bodyguard of lies.

Surprise - To surprise the enemy is to defeat them. The Germans driving through the Ardennes forest in 1940. We talk briefly about technical surprise.

Flexibility - Auftragtaktik and Mission Command. We look at Yom Kippur.

Offensive Action - Britzkrieg.

Sustainment - Supplies set the left and right of arc of what is possible. Sherman's march to the sea and the Atlantic Conveyor in the Falklands.

Morale - The Army of the Potomac after the Battle of the Wilderness.

Sun Tzu said -The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

This is why we need to understand the principles of war.

We look at the crucial at what was probably the most important 15 minutes in the entire New Guinea campaign - the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.

Check out the show notes for the podcast for all of the information that we cover in this episode as well as the images and other details that didn't make it into the podcast.

Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.

If you've learnt something from today's podcast, please leave a review for the Podcast on your podcast player.

We discuss the considerations for the defense of Palliers Hill.

Check out the show notes for the podcast for all of the information that we cover in this episode as well as the images and other details that didn't make it into the podcast.

Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.

If you've learnt something from today's podcast, please leave a review for the Podcast on your podcast player.

What was Shell Shock and how did it manifest itself in WW1?

What treatments were available and how successful were they?

GPCAPT Sany McFarlane AO discusses these issues along with the long term impact of Shell Shock and it's evolution in diagnosis and treatment through WW2 and the Vietnam War.

Check out the show notes for the podcast for all of the information that we cover in this episode as well as the images and other details that didn't make it into the podcast.

Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.

If you've learnt something from today's podcast, please leave a review for the Podcast on your podcast player.