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

James Eling

Learn the lessons of military history by looking at the great battles through the lens of the Principles of War. Part of the enduring nature of war, all good Generals follow the 10 Principle...

Episodes

20 of 214 episodes

155 - Guadalcanal - Combat Innovation and leadership Lessons from Lawton Collins at the Battle of Mt Austen

Major General J. Lawton Collins watched Captain Charles Davis earn the Medal of Honor from just 300 yards away — and that proximity defined...

50:18Oct 18, 2026

154 - Guadalcanal's Battle of the Gifu - Cannabalism in the jungle

The US Army's 132nd Infantry Regiment walked into one of the strongest Japanese defensive positions of the Guadalcanal campaign — and didn't...

34:20Oct 11, 2026

153 - Guadalcanal - Battle of Mount Austen - Hyakutake vs Patch, intelligence failures, sabotage raids and crippling casualties.

Major General Patch had a simple plan: send the fresh 132nd Infantry Regiment to clear a company of sick Japanese from Mount Austen before t...

36:26Sep 27, 2026

152 - National Guard vs Imperial Japanese Army on Guardalcanal - Lessons Learnt for employing green troops at 5th Matanikau

The US 182nd Infantry Regiment crossed the Matanikau on 18 November 1942 and within 48 hours all three companies of 1st Battalion had broken...

40:39Jul 19, 2026

151 - How Sea Control doomed the 17th Army to Starvation on Guadalcanal: The failure of the Tokyo Express

The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal cost the US Navy two rear admirals and six warships — yet it stopped 11 Japanese transports carrying 10,000...

32:43Jun 19, 2026

150 - What new tactics did Carlson's Raiders use to hunt Shoji's Regiment during the Long Patrol on Guadalcanal?

Colonel Shoji landed 1,500 Japanese troops east of Henderson Field — and the Americans needed three battalions and a week of manoeuvre to tr...

01:00:10May 24, 2026

How do you defend an island nation when 40% of your trade flows through contested waters?

Forty percent of Australian trade flows through the South China Sea — and if conflict erupts near Taiwan, that route becomes uninsurable ove...

01:22:15May 13, 2026

Strategic Context for Australia's WW2 mobilisation

Australia spent 20 years preparing for a war most politicians refused to discuss publicly — and that systematic industrial strategy may be t...

01:22:15May 10, 2026

Australia's Road to War - 1936 to 1941 - Dr Peter Layton

Australia built a coherent defence industrial strategy in the 1920s and 30s that actually worked when tested by total war — yet we've forgot...

01:25:08Apr 27, 2026

149 - Why did the Marines stop 1,000 yards short of victory at 4th Matanikau - Guadalcanal

After the defeat at Henderson Field, Japanese 17th Army headquarters remained confident — fresh divisions and hundreds of aircraft were prom...

34:43Apr 26, 2026

148 - The Battle of Henderson Field - Guadalcanal 1942

This episode is the 14th episode in our Guadalcanal series. We look at the Battle of Henderson Field, which is the decisive terrain for the...

55:52Apr 5, 2026

147 - The Japanese tank attack in the Battle of Henderson Field - Guadalcanal

This episode looks at the Sumiyoshi's tank attack across the Matanikau - an attempt to draw defenders away from the perimeter of Henderson F...

41:01Mar 29, 2026

146 - Halsey's question for Vandegrift about Henderson Field's defence that influenced Pacific Strategy.

This episode looks at the defensive and offensive planning undertaken by the IJA and the USMC. It also looks closely at Vandegrift's meeting...

41:14Mar 22, 2026

145 - 973 rounds in 83 minutes. The Battleship Bombardment of Henderson Field

This episode looks at the IJN and IJA combined planning for the assault on Henderson's Field, including the naval gunfire from the Kongo and...

45:18Mar 15, 2026

144 - Situational Awareness and the fight for Guadalcanal's Key Terrain - 3rd Battle of the Matanikau

USMC 1st Marine Division vs the IJA 2nd (Sendai) Division in the fight to control the Matanikau River. The 3rd Battle of the Matanikau Part...

33:20Mar 8, 2026

143 - Inside the Japanese OODA loop on Guadalcanal - Vandegrift and 3rd Matanikau

Maruyama vs Vandegrift in the fight to control the Matanikau River. The 3rd Battle of the Matanikau Part I - This is the ninth episode of ou...

41:42Feb 15, 2026

Puller, Munro, and Monssen - the daring resuce of 1/7 Marines - 2nd Battle of the Matanikau Part II

2nd Matanikau - Guadalcanal and Pullers rescue of the 1/7th Marines. The 2nd Battle of the Matanikau Part II - This is the eighth episode of...

28:54Feb 1, 2026

141 - Chesty Puller, 1/7 Marines and 2nd Matanikau, Guadalcanal

The 2nd Battle of the Matanikau - This is the seventh episode of our Guadalcanal series with historian and author Dave Holland. This episode...

34:24Nov 28, 2025

140 - Battle of Edson's Ridge: How the Marines saved the Cactus Air Force

This is the sixth episode of our Guadalcanal series with historian and author Dave Holland. This episodes discusses: *]:pointer-events-auto...

42:30Nov 13, 2025

139 - Guadalcanal - Edson and the defence of Bloody Ridge

This is the fifth episode of our Guadalcanal series with historian and author Dave Holland. This episodes discusses: *]:pointer-events-auto...

46:11Nov 1, 2025