Sir Nicholas Winton — “The British Schindler”
Working largely from a hotel room and later from his dining table in England, Winton arranged transport, visas, foster homes, and funding — often battling bureaucracy and racing against time as Europe moved toward war. The children were transported by train through Nazi territory to safety in Britain in what became part of the Kindertransport operations.
One final train carrying over 250 children was scheduled to leave Prague on September 1, 1939 — the very day Germany invaded Poland. The train never made it out. Almost none of those children survived the war.
What makes Winton’s story remarkable is that he told almost nobody about it afterward. For decades, even his wife was unaware of what he had done until she discovered a scrapbook in their attic in the late 1980s containing names, photographs, and records of the children he helped save.
Years later, many of those children — and eventually their descendants — would credit their lives to one quiet man who simply saw people in danger and decided to act.
Sometimes heroism is not found on a battlefield, but in refusing to stand aside while others look away.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
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Tadeusz Kościuszko — Soldier of Two Continents
Tadeusz Kościuszko is one of those remarkable historical figures who somehow managed to become a hero in two different wars, on two different continents.
But Kościuszko’s story did not end in America.
Returning home to Poland, he became the leader of an uprising against Russia and Prussia in 1794, fighting to preserve Polish independence against overwhelming odds. Though ultimately defeated and wounded in battle, he became a lasting symbol of resistance and national identity in Poland.
What makes him especially interesting is that he genuinely believed in liberty as a universal principle, not just a slogan for one nation. He spoke out against serfdom, supported broader rights for peasants, and even left part of his American estate to help purchase and educate enslaved people through his friend Thomas Jefferson — though the plan was never fully carried out after his death.
Kościuszko fought for freedom in both the Old World and the New, and earned the respect of figures as different as George Washington and Napoleon. Not bad for a man most people today have barely heard of.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
What an amazing story by a great story teller.
John Lewis Barkley rides again!
"If brute force doesn't work you aren't using enough brute force." - mTk
War does not determine who is right, but it does determine who is left. - B.Russell
"Turn based games don't need a pause key". - mTk
"Overkill is underrated." - Col John "Hannibal" Smith
Senatus Populusque Romanus- SPQR - The Senate and People of Rome (circa 60 BC)
@panzer-lehr I had never heard of him. I took a little look at his history and was surprised at how much one person can do in a lifetime. I'll certainly try to do a little more reading on him.
"En cualquier dirección que recorras el alma, nunca tropezarás con sus límites." Sócrates
One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
- George Orwell, Homage To Catalonia
In the early hours of May 15, 1918, Private Henry Johnson and fellow soldier Needham Roberts were standing sentry duty on the Western Front in France when a German raiding party attacked their position.
Johnson was a member of the 369th Infantry Regiment — the famous “Harlem Hellfighters,” an African-American regiment serving under French command.
What happened next was extraordinary.
Roberts was badly wounded, and Johnson himself was hit repeatedly by bullets and grenade fragments. When German soldiers attempted to drag Roberts away as a prisoner, Johnson refused to let them have him.
With his rifle damaged and ammunition running low, Johnson fought back with everything he had. He fired his rifle, swung it as a club, used grenades and finally drew his bolo knife and went after the Germans at close quarters.
By the time the Germans withdrew, Johnson had suffered 21 wounds and had prevented Roberts from being captured. Estimates of the German force vary, but Johnson's Medal of Honor citation credits him with personally defeating a German raiding party of at least 12 men.
The French quickly recognized what he had done, awarding Johnson the Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm.
America took considerably longer.
Johnson returned home a celebrated war hero but struggled with the lasting effects of his wounds and eventually slipped into obscurity. He died in 1929 at only 36 years old.
It wasn't until 1996 that he received the Purple Heart. In 2002 came the Distinguished Service Cross.
And finally, in 2015 — 97 years after that night in France — Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
One of the great fighting stories of World War I — a wounded soldier who simply refused to let the enemy take his buddy.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here: