John Clerk was a Scottish naval tactician. He was born in 1728 near Edinburgh and died in 1812. He is claimed to have invented the manoeuvre of breaking the enemy's line, put forth in an Essay on Naval Tactics published in 1790, afterwards employed with signal effect by Howe, St Vincent, Duncan, and Horatio Nelson. Research John Clerk
The Battle of Hastings was fought on October the 14th, 1066, between the Normans under William, called after this victory the William The Conqueror, and the English under the brilliant tacticianHarold II. It took place on a hill, to which a later writer gave the name of Senlac, about six miles from Hastings.
Rapidly marching southwards, he chose a position on which to meet the invader. His own bodyguard, the huscarls, men heavily armed with axe and shield, were the nucleus of his army, but he had also with him men of the fyrd, imperfectly armed and trained. All fought in a number of massed groups, and around each was a ring of stakes driven into the ground to impede horsemen.
The archers, the footmen, and finally the horsemen attacked the English, but could make no impression on their closed ranks. Then some of Harold's auxiliaries left their places to chase down the hill after a few Normans who were routed, and William ordered some of his men to feign flight. The English ran down the hill after the Normans, into a trap. The Normans turned round and cut them to pieces. This continued several times, and severely depleted the English numbers, but on the hill the huscarls stood firm around their king. As night came on the Norman archers began to shoot into the air. Then, with the arrows falling about their faces, the English gave way, and the Normans got in among them. Fighting to the last, Harold and his two brothers were killed, and his army was totally destroyed.
The battle was at the point of being won by the English, the Normans about to withdraw, but the ill disciplined English auxiliaries chasing after fleeing Normans were reduced in numbers leaving insufficient English troops to withstand the final Norman attacks. Had the English troops stood their ground, as ordered by Harold, history would have been very different. Research Battle of Hastings
HMS Tactician was a British T Class patrol type submarine of 1090 tons displacement launched in 1942. HMS Tactician had a top speed of 15.25 knots surfaced and 9 knots submerged, carried a complement of 53 and was armed with one 4 inch dual-purpose gun; one 20 mm anti-aircraft gun; three machine-guns and about ten 21 inch torpedo tubes. Research Tactician
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research John Clerk
